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Air Products & Chemicals

NYSE: APD · USD

Air Products & Chemicals (APD) Economic Moat Analysis—

Avantages concurrentiels, preuves datées et risques d’érosion.

Analyse à actualiser

Narrow avantage concurrentiel

Air Products has a narrow, location-specific moat from existing pipeline infrastructure and the difficulty of economically transporting industrial gases. Long-term customer contracts and demonstrated energy-cost recovery support this advantage, but do not establish unrestricted pricing power or exceptional durability. Recent pricing and core operating results are positive overall, with helium pricing weakness providing contrary evidence. Repeated clean-energy project exits demonstrate serious capital-allocation failures without establishing that the core industrial-gas advantage has disappeared.

Cost advantage

Existing pipeline networks provide a localized supply-cost and reliability advantage where Air Products operates them. The disclosed difficulty and inefficiency of storing and transporting industrial gases support the economic mechanism. Long-term sales contracts and contractual input-cost recovery reinforce the position. The pipeline advantage itself is an issuer assertion; its magnitude versus competitors is not quantified.

Durabilité
Installed infrastructure and long-term customer commitments support persistence, but the passages disclose neither pipeline replication economics nor contract durations and renewal outcomes. This supports a narrow moat rather than a demonstrated company-wide or exceptional advantage.
Concurrents
Air Liquide S.A., Linde plc, Messer Group GmbH
Risques d’érosion
Competition explicitly includes price and supply reliability. Rival infrastructure, customer production alternatives, reduced local demand or distribution problems could weaken the advantage. Lower helium pricing shows that protection varies across products. Clean-energy project cancellations represent realized investment failures, while the remaining clean-energy opportunity is potential rather than an established moat.
Ce qui invaliderait la thèse
The thesis would fail if pipeline-served customers could obtain comparable reliability at equal or lower delivered cost from alternatives, if material pipeline contracts were lost or renewed on persistently worse terms, or if contractual recovery repeatedly failed to offset covered input-cost increases. Sustained deterioration in existing on-site demand would also undermine customer dependence; growth attributable to new assets alone would not establish retention.
Preuves (7) · Contre-preuves (6)

Évolution depuis la dernière analyse

  • No comparable previous version.

Limites de l’analyse

  • Assessment uses only supplied issuer passages. Filing-1 is dated 2025-11-20, filing-3 2025-12-11 and filing-2 2026-07-30; all retain dateKind filed. These are filing dates, not retrieval dates.
  • Named competitors are established for regional industrial gases, but their relative delivered costs, pipeline coverage, customer wins and investment returns are not supplied. Regional competitors remain unnamed, and equipment competitor coverage is not established.
  • Pipeline superiority is management's assertion supported by disclosed production economics, rather than a quantified comparison. Pipeline-specific earnings, replacement costs, capacity utilization and market shares are absent.
  • Contract durations, termination penalties, renewals and customer-level retention are missing. Customer dependence and retention are assessed indirectly from long-term contracts and on-site demand; new asset contributions limit that inference.
  • Energy-cost recovery demonstrates contractual protection, not unrestricted discretionary pricing. Regional pricing outcomes differ, and some pricing bridges combine selling prices with variable-cost changes.
  • Patents and technology do not establish a separate intangible-assets moat without evidence of exclusivity, customer dependence or sustained competitive returns.
  • Core segment and adjusted results exclude substantial project charges. Those exclusions help evaluate core operations but cannot erase realized capital destruction.
  • The supplied proxy supports compensation and governance assessment, but detailed beneficial ownership, compliance with ownership guidelines and the effectiveness of governance controls are not established. Announced fiscal 2026 incentive changes and actual grants do not prove future payouts or improved investment outcomes.
  • Cash-flow coverage is incomplete: financing flows and asset expenditures are available, but the supplied passages do not establish full operating cash generation or free-cash-flow coverage of investment and dividends.

Indicateurs financiers à confronter à la thèse

Ratios calculés à partir des publications annuelles. Une valeur manquante reste indisponible. Les graphiques détaillés sont accessibles dans les autres onglets.

Indicateurs financiers à confronter à la thèse
PériodeGross marginOperating marginROICFCF margin
202130.4%22.1%11.7%8.4%
202226.5%18.4%10.9%1.9%
202329.9%19.8%9.5%-11.3%
202432.5%36.9%13.2%-26.0%
202531.4%-7.3%—-31.3%

Pouvoir de fixation des prix—

Données vérifiées insuffisantes pour attribuer un score.

Management—

Données vérifiées insuffisantes pour attribuer un score.

Sources et méthode

Analyse à actualiser · Mis à jour 17/10/2026 · Version 5

Interprétation IA fondée sur des extraits vérifiés. Les déclarations de l’entreprise et les limites de couverture restent explicites.

Méthode quality-scores-2 : six catégories de même poids. Le score global exige une couverture complète. Les données manquantes ne valent pas zéro. Les évaluations qualitatives sont des interprétations sourcées, pas des probabilités. 3/6 · 23/10/2026

Moat—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Pouvoir de fixation des prix—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Prévisibilité44

Five consecutive annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.

Nondeclining revenue years (%)
25.00
Revenue growth volatility (pp)
10.81
Positive FCF years (%)
40.00
FCF margin volatility (pp)
15.36

Solidité financière13

Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, or reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense when operating income is unavailable. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.

debtFcfGrade
0.00
netDebtEbitGrade
0.00
interestCoverageGrade
0.00
currentRatioGrade
50.48
Interest coverage (x)
-4.10
Current ratio (x)
1.38

Allocation du capital58

Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income or, if unavailable, EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported interest expense; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. Nonpositive invested capital has no defined return and remains unavailable. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.

3-year pre-tax operating return (%)
8.49
3-year average dilution (%)
0.10
3-year average SBC / revenue (%)
0.54
cashConversionGrade
0.00

Qualité du management—

Awaiting a sourced assessment under the current scoring policy and financial basis.

Preuves

Overall regional industrial gases sales constituted over 90% of consolidated sales in fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023, approximately half of which were attributable to atmospheric gases.

Business: regional industrial gases share of consolidated sales · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Each of the regional industrial gases segments competes against three global industrial gas companies: Air Liquide S.A., Linde plc, and Messer Group GmbH, as well as regional competitors.

Business: named industrial gas competitors · Dépôt 20/11/2025

We derive a competitive advantage in locations where we have pipeline networks, which enable us to provide a reliable and economic supply of products to our larger customers.

Business: pipeline network competitive advantage · Dépôt 20/11/2025

5 Table of Contents Production Industrial gases are generally produced at or near the point of use due to the complexity and inefficiency of storing molecules at low temperatures.

Production: point-of-use production and storage inefficiency · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Our long-term sales contracts to customers are generally matched to the term of these obligations and provide recovery of price increases.

Purchase obligations: matching long-term sales contracts and price recovery · Dépôt 20/11/2025

We mitigate electricity, natural gas, and hydrocarbon price fluctuations contractually through pricing formulas, surcharges, cost pass-through provisions, and tolling arrangements.

Business: contractual mitigation of energy and feedstock price fluctuations · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Cost of Sales and Gross Margin Cost of sales of $8.3 billion increased 1%, or $87.3, due to higher energy cost pass-through to customers of $278, higher costs of $73, higher power and fuel costs in our merchant business of $49, and an unfavorable currency impact of $12.

Fiscal 2025 cost of sales: realized energy-cost pass-through and merchant cost pressures · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Competition in industrial gases is based primarily on price, reliability of supply, and the development of industrial gas applications.

Business: price, supply reliability and applications as competitive factors · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Prior Year 2026 2025 $ %/bp Sales $2,550.1 $2,401.2 $148.9 6 % Operating income 728.7 624.6 104.1 17 % Operating margin 28.6 % 26.0 % 260 bp Equity affiliates’ income $38.4 $30.3 $8.1 27 % The table below summarizes the major factors that impacted sales in the Asia segment for the periods presented: Volume 3 % Price (1 %) Energy cost pass-through to customers 2 % Currency 2 % Total Asia Sales Change 6 % Sales of $2.6 billion increased 6%, or $148.9, as higher volumes of 3%, favorable currency of 2%, and higher energy cost pass-through to customers of 2% were partially offset by lower pricing of 1%.

Nine months ended June 2026: Asia volume and pricing bridge · Dépôt 30/07/2026

The decline in pricing was driven by lower helium pricing.

Asia: helium pricing decline · Dépôt 30/07/2026

In fiscal year 2025, total pre-tax charges related to business and asset actions were approximately $3.7 billion ($3.0 billion attributable to Air Products after tax, or $13.68 per share) compared to $57.0 ($43.8 after tax, or $0.20 per share) in fiscal year 2024.

Fiscal 2025 business and asset action charges · Dépôt 20/11/2025

50 Table of Contents Business and Asset Actions (Project Exit Costs) During the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, we recognized project exit charges of $2.9 billion ($2.2 billion after-tax, or $9.92 per share) as a result of our decision to cancel a clean energy complex under construction in Louisiana, a green hydrogen production facility under construction in Casa Grande, Arizona, and certain other smaller-scale projects supporting clean energy distribution.

Third quarter fiscal 2026: cancellations of clean-energy projects under construction · Dépôt 30/07/2026

These benefits were partially offset by higher costs of $16, which included fixed-cost inflation, increased product distribution and dislocation costs, and project development costs, partially offset by lower depreciation expense.

Americas: fixed-cost inflation, distribution and dislocation costs · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Prior Year 30 June 2026 2025 Loss per Share ($0.23) ($1.79) $1.56 Less: Loss per share from discontinued operations — (0.04) 0.04 Loss per share from continuing operations ($0.23) ($1.76) $1.53 % Change from prior year 87 % Operating Items Underlying business: Volume $0.66 Price, net of variable costs 0.10 Other costs 0.03 Currency 0.21 Business and asset actions(A) 0.32 Shareholder activism-related costs 0.32 Gain on sale of business (0.23) Gain on sale of other assets(B) (0.11) Total Operating Items $1.30 Other Items Equity affiliates: Equity affiliates' income $0.32 Equity method investment impairment associated with business and asset actions(A) 0.02 Interest expense (0.03) Other non-operating income/expense, net: Gain on de-designation of cash flow hedges(C) (0.03) Non-operating expense associated with business and asset actions(A) (0.02) Non-service pension cost, net 0.07 Change in effective tax rate, excluding discrete items below 0.03 Tax reform adjustment related to deemed foreign dividends (0.16) Tax on repatriation of foreign earnings 0.14 Noncontrolling interests(A)(C) (0.12) Total Other Items $0.22 Total Change $1.53 % Change from prior year 87 % (A)Per share impacts were calculated based on total after-tax charges for business and asset actions attributable to Air Products of $2.2 billion and $2.3 billion for the first nine months of fiscal years 2026 and 2025, respectively, with $0.6 and $3.5 attributable to noncontrolling partners.

Nine-month earnings bridge: price net of variable costs and other operating drivers · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Prior Year 2026 2025 $ %/bp Sales $2,386.7 $2,195.1 $191.6 9 % Operating income 665.8 607.2 58.6 10 % Operating margin 27.9 % 27.7 % 20 bp Equity affiliates’ income $87.9 $75.6 $12.3 16 % The table below summarizes the major factors that impacted sales in the Europe segment for the periods presented: Volume 1 % Price 1 % Energy cost pass-through to customers — % Currency 7 % Total Europe Sales Change 9 % Sales of $2.4 billion increased 9%, or $191.6, due to a favorable impact from currency of 7%, higher volumes of 1%, and higher pricing of 1%.

Nine months ended June 2026: Europe pricing, volumes and currency · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Volume growth was driven by on-site, including HyCO facilities and a new asset contribution.

Americas: on-site volume growth including new asset contribution · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Gross margin of 31.4% decreased 110 bp from 32.5% in the prior year primarily due to higher costs and increased energy cost pass-through to customers.

Fiscal 2025 gross-margin decline and its drivers · Dépôt 20/11/2025

45 Table of Contents Reconciliation of Total Segment Operating Income to Consolidated Results The table below reconciles total segment operating income to income (loss) before taxes as reflected on our consolidated income statements: Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 30 June 30 June 2026 2025 2026 2025 Total Segment Operating Income $810.3 $741.1 $2,319.5 $2,045.9 Business and asset actions (2,907.4) (24.1) (2,929.4) (2,952.0) Shareholder activism-related costs — (25.0) — (86.3) Gain on sale of business — 67.3 — 67.3 Gain on sale of other assets(A) — 31.3 — 31.3 Consolidated Operating Income (Loss) ($2,097.1) $790.6 ($609.9) ($893.8) Equity affiliates' income 205.2 167.6 556.8 463.7 Interest expense 49.4 61.4 153.4 146.2 Other non-operating income (expense), net 3.6 (6.0) 3.1 14.3 Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes ($1,937.7) $890.8 ($203.4) ($562.0) (A) Reflected on the consolidated income statements within “Other income (expense), net".

Reconciliation of segment operating income to consolidated results · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Gross margin of 32.8% increased 30 bp from 32.5%.

Third quarter fiscal 2026: gross-margin improvement · Dépôt 30/07/2026

145 Table of Contents Business Segment Information Americas Asia Europe Middle East and India Corporate and other Total 2025 Sales(A) $5,125.9 $3,271.0 $2,984.5 $135.9 $520.0 $12,037.3 Cost of sales (3,423.5) (2,323.3) (1,893.2) (107.4) (508.6) (8,256.0) Selling and administrative expense (206.6) (118.3) (254.0) (24.1) (303.1) (906.1) Other segment items(B) 23.8 21.7 7.4 5.2 (75.6) (17.5) Operating income (loss)(C) $1,519.6 $851.1 $844.7 $9.6 ($367.3) $2,857.7 Other segment information: Depreciation and amortization 732.1 518.9 247.4 25.9 39.9 1,564.2 Equity affiliates' income(D) 157.0 42.3 101.9 340.9 12.4 654.5 Investments in net assets of and advances to equity affiliates 555.2 331.3 649.9 3,713.2 116.5 5,366.1 Total assets 12,058.7 6,712.2 6,916.8 10,919.4 4,452.4 41,059.5 Expenditures for long-lived assets 2,610.7 406.6 1,010.6 2,868.6 126.1 7,022.6 2024 Sales(A) $5,040.1 $3,224.3 $2,823.4 $134.4 $878.4 $12,100.6 Cost of sales (3,284.8) (2,255.8) (1,783.7) (101.0) (743.4) (8,168.7) Selling and administrative expense (212.5) (122.0) (243.2) (28.2) (336.5) (942.4) Other segment items(B) 22.3 12.7 13.5 0.7 (91.2) (42.0) Operating income (loss)(C) $1,565.1 $859.2 $810.0 $5.9 ($292.7) $2,947.5 Other segment information: Depreciation and amortization 699.3 471.0 207.1 26.6 47.1 1,451.1 Equity affiliates' income 158.8 32.9 88.1 347.5 20.4 647.7 Investments in net assets of and advances to equity affiliates 472.9 322.9 573.8 3,317.7 105.2 4,792.5 Total assets 12,383.8 7,436.5 5,849.2 8,477.4 5,427.7 39,574.6 Expenditures for long-lived assets 2,733.1 574.8 865.2 2,517.5 106.1 6,796.7 2023 Sales(A) $5,369.3 $3,216.1 $2,963.1 $162.5 $889.0 $12,600.0 Cost of sales (3,715.5) (2,194.6) (2,080.1) (120.0) (722.8) (8,833.0) Selling and administrative expense (222.4) (123.7) (224.0) (26.9) (360.0) (957.0) Other segment items(B) 8.3 8.7 4.4 1.3 (93.5) (70.8) Operating income (loss)(C) $1,439.7 $906.5 $663.4 $16.9 ($287.3) $2,739.2 Other segment information: Depreciation and amortization 649.3 433.5 196.2 27.5 51.8 1,358.3 Equity affiliates' income 109.2 29.7 102.5 349.8 13.1 604.3 Expenditures for long-lived assets 2,033.7 663.4 482.4 1,312.7 134.2 4,626.4 (A)Sales relate to external customers only.

Business segment information: operating results and long-lived asset expenditures · Dépôt 20/11/2025

Cash Flows From Financing Activities Nine Months Ended 30 June 2026 2025 Long-term debt proceeds $644.0 $3,978.2 Payments on long-term debt (662.8) (380.1) Net increase in commercial paper and short-term borrowings 77.0 214.7 Dividends paid to shareholders (1,200.0) (1,185.7) Investments by noncontrolling interests 301.5 485.9 Other financing activities (36.1) (78.7) Cash (Used for) Provided by Financing Activities ($876.4) $3,034.3 For the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, cash used for financing activities was $876.4.

Nine-month financing cash flows: borrowing, repayments and dividends · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Accordingly, we recorded cumulative effect adjustments that unfavorably impacted operating income (loss) by $78 for the nine months ended 30 June 2026.

Critical accounting estimates: unfavorable equipment-project estimate adjustments · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Selling and Administrative Expense Selling and administrative expense of $219.1 decreased 2%, or $3.5, driven by productivity improvements related to our global cost reduction plan, partially offset by higher incentive compensation, fixed-cost inflation, and unfavorable currency.

Third quarter fiscal 2026: administrative productivity improvements · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Maione) Adjusted EPS 0 % ESG Modifier 1.0 Final Payout Factor 0% Fiscal 2023 – 2025 Long-Term Incentive Performance Shares Relative TSR 80.8 % 2026 Proxy Statement 41 Executive Compensation Target Total Direct Compensation for 2025 Named Executive Officers At the beginning of the fiscal year, after benchmarking against peer companies as discussed below, the Committee established the fiscal 2025 target total direct compensation for our then-serving executive officers.

Executive compensation: fiscal 2025 annual incentive and long-term performance-share payout factors · Dépôt 11/12/2025

For fiscal 2025, the Committee maintained its practice of utilizing two types of long-term incentives for our executive officers: performance shares, which are conditioned on relative TSR performance compared to the S&P 500 Index over a three-year period (for fiscal 2025-2027); and RSUs, which generally vest four years after the grant date, subject to the recipient’s continued service to the Company.

Executive compensation: fiscal 2025 performance shares and restricted stock units · Dépôt 11/12/2025

Share-based compensation cost recognized on the consolidated income statements is summarized below: Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended 30 June 30 June 2026 2025 2026 2025 Before-tax share-based compensation cost(A) $12.3 $11.0 $38.6 $65.8 Income tax benefit (2.9) (2.8) (9.1) (15.8) After-tax share-based compensation cost $9.4 $8.2 $29.5 $50.0 (A)Fiscal year 2025 includes noncash executive separation costs of $22.4 to accelerate vesting of share-based awards.

Share-based compensation: recognized expense and accelerated executive separation vesting · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Highlights of our corporate governance framework are included below: •Declassified Board •Board consists of 100% independent directors (other than CEO) •Separate CEO and Chairman •Independent Chairman •Independent Vice Chairman •Majority voting standard in uncontested director elections •Director resignation policy for unelected directors •Shareholders have right to call special meeting (10% threshold) •Proxy access bylaw •Annual say-on-pay vote •No super-majority voting standards •No poison pill •Stringent stock ownership guidelines for directors and executive officers •All directors attend 75% or more of meetings •Board committees consist entirely of independent directors (other than the Executive Committee) •Board and committee oversight of risk management, including key topics such as succession planning, enterprise risk management, cybersecurity, sustainability, political engagement, human capital and compensation 6 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Corporate governance: board independence, shareholder rights and committee structure · Dépôt 11/12/2025

The reimbursement was unanimously approved by our Board of Directors, with one director abstaining from the vote due to his role as founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mantle Ridge.

Related-party reimbursement: board approval and conflicted-director abstention · Dépôt 30/07/2026

•Our Recoupment Policy also provides that excess incentive compensation shall be recouped in the event of an accounting restatement, in accordance with SEC and NYSE rules.

Compensation governance: accounting-restatement recoupment policy · Dépôt 11/12/2025

Deferred Stock Units During the nine months ended 30 June 2026, we granted 100,048 performance shares to be earned over the performance period beginning 1 October 2025 and ending 30 September 2028.

Share-based compensation: actual performance-share grants for the 2025–2028 performance period · Dépôt 30/07/2026

Long-Term Incentive •Performance shares awarded as long-term incentives beginning in fiscal 2026 will be equally weighted between TSR measured against a fixed group of companies that comprise the S&P 500 Industrials Index and the S&P 500 Materials Index and return on capital, calculated as the three-year average of adjusted return on capital after-tax divided by adjusted capital employed.

Executive compensation: announced fiscal 2026 performance-share measures · Dépôt 11/12/2025

Historique des publications

Historique des publications
VersionMis à jourAvantage concurrentiel
523/10/2026narrow
422/10/2026narrow
318/10/2026narrow
218/10/2026narrow
118/10/2026Indisponible

Sources

Méthode et limites de l’analyse · Comprendre ce concept