LIN vs DOW Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Linde's contracted, high-margin industrial-gas model against Dow's cyclical commodity-chemicals exposure.
Use this Linde vs Dow Inc. comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
DOW holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DOW leads on both 1-year return (+20.17%) and forward P/E quality (16.62x vs 25.01x for LIN), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, DOW is growing revenue faster (19.70%), while LIN maintains the higher operating margin (28.12%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +11.79% for LIN and +13.69% for DOW.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 51.7 | 27.6 |
| AI ranki | #439 | #2423 |
| Latest closei | $458.48 | $29.49 |
| 1M returni | -4.23% | -5.45% |
| 6M returni | -6.39% | -21.34% |
| 1Y returni | -4.46% | +20.17% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.63K (-3.7%) started 2025-09-18 | $12.23K (+22.3%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $16.71K (+67.1%) started 2021-09-20 | $7.74K (-22.6%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $52.64K (+426.4%) started 2016-09-19 | $11.97K (+19.7%) started 2019-03-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $225.65B | $22.04B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 31.54 | 62.67 |
| Forward P/Ei | 25.01 | 16.62 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 0.47 |
| EV/Revenuei | 7.06 | 0.94 |
| Analyst targeti | $547.24 | $34.69 |
| Target upsidei | +11.79% | +13.69% |
| Metric | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 9.30% | 19.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 11.30% | -73.30% |
| EPS growthi | +11.30% | -73.30% |
| FCF margini | +11.74% | +0.58% |
| Operating margini | 28.12% | 11.59% |
| Profit margini | 20.43% | -3.13% |
| ROIC proxyi | 18.40% | -5.54% |
| Return on equityi | 18.40% | -5.54% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.31% | 4.59% |
| Payout ratioi | 40.00% | 700.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.73 | 0.42 |
| Debt/equityi | 68.95 | 111.91 |
| Current ratioi | 0.88 | 1.75 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.68 | 0.89 |
Over the past year, LIN and DOW have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.15), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -3.68% | +22.31% |
| CAGRi | -3.68% | +22.34% | |
| Volatilityi | 18.94% | 44.34% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.34 | 0.57 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.46 | 0.90 | |
| Max drawdowni | 18.87% | 35.47% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.13% | 29.57% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.31% | 12.75% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.12% | 16.49% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.95% | 10.82% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 7.34% | 13.31% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +59.14% | -36.75% |
| CAGRi | +9.75% | -8.76% | |
| Volatilityi | 20.95% | 34.11% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.34 | -0.23 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.48 | -0.33 | |
| Max drawdowni | 22.82% | 65.60% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.13% | 50.88% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.89% | 27.53% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.83% | 33.11% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.26% | 17.45% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.95% | 25.43% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +350.16% | -18.12% |
| CAGRi | +16.24% | -2.63% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.92% | 38.55% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.58 | 0.01 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.84 | 0.01 | |
| Max drawdowni | 32.59% | 65.60% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.13% | 50.88% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.09% | 24.07% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.15% | 29.40% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.28% | 21.66% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 19.59% | 40.97% |
| Category | LIN | DOW |
|---|---|---|
| Company | LIN | DOW |
| Sector | Basic Materials | Basic Materials |
| Industry | Specialty Chemicals | Chemicals |
| Core business | Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company worldwide. | Dow Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various materials science solutions for packaging, infrastructure, mobility, and consumer applications in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, t… |
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