Mizuho Securities initiated coverage of Air Liquide on Monday with an Outperform rating and a €200 price target, implying approximately 17% upside from the group’s recent valuation.
The French industrial gases company was described by Mizuho analyst John Roberts as a rare hybrid combining recurring-revenue services with unregulated growth utility characteristics. Roberts highlighted the sector’s unique dynamics, noting that industrial gas investments follow long cycles while sales cycles are among the shortest due to daily delivery requirements and limited storage options.
Air Liquide’s efficiency program has delivered €497 million in 2024, €631 million in 2025, and €299 million in the first half of 2026. The group targets a 21.8% margin by 2027 and expects at least 40 basis points of annual margin improvement beyond that goal. Electronics, representing around 10% of total sales, is expanding at an 8% to 9% rate, with roughly half of the investment backlog allocated to the segment in the first half of 2026, up from about 40% previously.
Mizuho also rated peer Linde with an Outperform recommendation, citing a narrowing return-on-capital gap. Air Liquide’s adjusted ROC gap versus Linde fell to 6.7% in 2025 from 10% in 2021. Roberts emphasized the resilience of Air Liquide’s earnings, driven by long-term take-or-pay contracts with large on-site customers and recurring demand from merchant and packaged-gas clients.
Air Liquide is scheduled to present at its Capital Markets Day on October 5.
