Linde plc Stock (LIN) Weekend Update: Latest News, Analyst Price Targets Near $500, and What to Watch Before Monday’s Open

NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2025, 2:18 p.m. ET — Market closed (weekend)

Linde plc (Nasdaq: LIN) heads into the final week of 2025 with U.S. markets shut for the weekend and investors focused on whether the “Santa Claus rally” momentum can carry into the last few sessions of the year. LIN finished Friday’s regular session at $424.77, and was quoted around $426.63 in after-hours trading as of 6:22 p.m. ET, according to StockAnalysis data. ^[1]

The timing matters: late-December trading tends to be thinner, which can exaggerate moves in both directions. That dynamic showed up Friday as Wall Street ended a light-volume post-Christmas session close to flat. ^[2]

Below is what’s driving the conversation around Linde plc stock right now, including the most recent headlines, the latest analyst forecasts, and the key items investors may want on their radar before the next regular session begins.

Market backdrop: quiet tape, thin volume, and the Santa Claus rally narrative

Friday’s U.S. session (Dec. 26) delivered a familiar year-end feel—low catalysts, light volume, and indexes hovering near highs. Reuters reported that the Dow fell 0.04%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.03%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.09%, while volume on U.S. exchanges was about 10.22 billion shares versus a 20-day average near 15.98 billion. ^[3]

That environment is often supportive for “steady compounder” names—stocks investors lean on when the calendar (not fundamentals) is the dominant driver. In the same Reuters report, Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, framed the pause as a breather after a strong run and pointed to the seasonal “Santa Claus rally” window that continues into early January. ^[4]

Linde, as a global industrial gases leader with diversified end markets, often trades more like a quality defensive-industrial than a high-beta cyclical—one reason it frequently shows up on “core holding” lists and tends to be closely watched for what it says about industrial activity.

Linde stock price: where LIN left off before the weekend

With the market closed today, the most actionable reference points are Friday’s close and the most recent after-hours quote:

Regular session close (Dec. 26): $424.77
After-hours quote (Dec. 26, 6:22 p.m. ET): $426.63 ^[5]

Linde’s own website also displayed a Dec. 26 closing quote in the same neighborhood, reinforcing the idea that LIN is entering the weekend essentially unchanged from Friday’s settlement. ^[6]

The last 24–48 hours of LIN headlines: institutional filings and valuation debate dominate

Because there were no major fresh corporate press releases from Linde in the past two days, the most current LIN-related news flow has been dominated by (1) institutional holding updates tied to SEC filings and (2) valuation screens.

1) Institutional ownership moves (Form 13F-related coverage)

Several articles published Dec. 26–27 highlighted changes in positions reported by investment firms:

Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Linde by 34.2% during Q3, adding shares and ending the period with 18,435 shares valued around $8.756 million, according to MarketBeat’s summary of the filing. ^[7]
Avanza Fonder AB raised its holdings by 7.3% in Q3 to 48,373 shares (about $22.98 million), also per MarketBeat’s filing recap. ^[8]
Pacer Advisors reduced its Linde position by 8.8% in Q3, selling 6,747 shares and ending with 70,304 shares worth roughly $33.39 million, according to MarketBeat. ^[9]

Important nuance for investors: these are reported changes from prior quarters, not live tape reads of what institutions did this week. Still, the clustering of these stories over a holiday-thinned period can attract short-term attention.

2) “Is LIN overvalued?” becomes a headline topic

On Saturday (Dec. 27), the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) published an article asking whether Linde could be considered “overvalued,” using AAII’s Value Score/Grade framework and a basket of valuation metrics. The piece was authored by Jenna Brashear and explicitly frames the discussion “as of December 26, 2025.” ^[10]

This type of coverage doesn’t necessarily change fundamentals, but it can influence sentiment—especially for a stock like Linde that has often commanded a premium valuation because of its scale, contract structure, and cash-flow profile.

Analyst forecasts and price targets: the consensus clusters around ~$500

Despite the quiet headline calendar, analyst expectations remain the most concrete “forward-looking” inputs investors track for LIN.

Broad consensus: Buy ratings with high-teens upside implied

MarketScreener lists a “BUY” consensus from 26 analysts, with an average target price of $502.71 versus a last close of $424.77 (about +18% implied upside). It also shows a high target of $565 and a low target of $381. ^[11]
StockAnalysis reports an average target of $500.36 and a “Buy” consensus (its page reflects a smaller set of analysts), implying a similar high-teens potential gain from the latest close. ^[12]

Targets differ by source because aggregators vary in which banks they include and how frequently they update, but the headline is consistent: many analysts still see LIN valued closer to $500 than $400, even after a strong multi-year run.

Named analysts and recent actions to know

StockAnalysis also lists several identifiable analysts and their most recent published actions/targets, including:

Arun Viswanathan (RBC Capital) — maintained a Buy, cutting the target $540 → $490 (dated Dec. 12, 2025). ^[13]
Shanshan Shen (CICC) — initiated coverage with a Buy and a $510 target (dated Dec. 3, 2025). ^[14]
Joshua Spector (UBS) — upgraded Hold → Strong Buy, adjusting the target $507 → $500 (dated Nov. 11, 2025). ^[15]
Patrick Cunningham (Citigroup) — maintained a Strong Buy with a $520 target (dated Nov. 3, 2025). ^[16]

These are opinions—not guarantees—but they help explain why LIN can hold a premium multiple: many sell-side models still assume durable earnings and cash-flow growth.

Fundamentals recap: why Linde draws a premium (and where the risks are)

What Linde does (and why investors treat it as a “quality industrial”)

In Linde’s own communications, the company describes itself as a leading global industrial gases and engineering business, with applications spanning healthcare oxygen, electronics gases, and energy-transition uses such as clean hydrogen and carbon capture systems. ^[17]

That breadth matters because it can cushion cyclicality: weakness in one end market can be offset by resilience in others.

Management view: backlog, contracts, and “resilient” end markets

In a Dec. 15 interview highlighted on Linde’s investor events page, CEO Sanjiv Lamba emphasized a large project pipeline and long-term contract base, saying the company is executing “more than US$10 billion of project backlog,” with “seven billion of that in long-term contracts.” ^[18]

In the same recap, Lamba pointed to electronics, healthcare, and food & beverage as areas of resilience, and noted he sees opportunity in aerospace—particularly commercial space. ^[19]

(And in peak-TV enthusiasm, host Jim Cramer reacted: “You see why we own it? … What a great story!”) ^[20]

The bear case investors keep revisiting: Europe volume softness

The key fundamental caution that has lingered in recent quarters is Europe’s industrial slowdown. In its Oct. 31 Reuters-covered update, Linde issued fourth-quarter adjusted EPS guidance of $4.10 to $4.20, below an analyst mean estimate cited by Reuters, and management pointed to weaker trends in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA). ^[21]

Even though that story is not from the last 48 hours, it remains the most widely cited “why not pay any price?” argument around the name: if industrial activity stays soft (especially in Europe), premium-multiple stocks can face pressure.

What investors should know before the next session

Because U.S. markets are closed today, attention shifts to Monday, Dec. 29, when trading resumes.

1) Know the clock: normal hours are back

The NYSE lists its Core Trading Session as 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. ^[22]
Nasdaq’s 2025 holiday calendar confirms markets were closed for Christmas Day and had an early close on Dec. 24, but regular sessions continue around year-end (outside the Jan. 1 holiday). ^[23]

2) Holiday week catalysts may be scarce—by design

Kiplinger’s earnings calendar for the week of Dec. 29 to Jan. 2 notes no noteworthy earnings reports scheduled on the major days it highlights—another reason macro headlines and liquidity can dominate. ^[24]

3) Watch the economic calendar (even if it’s light)

MarketWatch’s economic calendar preview lists Pending Home Sales (Nov.) scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday, Dec. 29. ^[25]
Housing data can matter for rates—and rates can matter for valuation-sensitive “quality” stocks.

4) Year-end schedule reminders: New Year’s is the next hard stop

Investopedia reports that equities markets have a full trading day on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), while bond trading ends at 2 p.m., and that both stock and bond markets are closed Jan. 1, 2026 for New Year’s Day. ^[26]

5) The next major Linde catalyst: earnings timing is on the calendar

Multiple market calendars point to Linde’s next earnings report around Feb. 5, 2026. TipRanks lists Feb. 05, 2026 for fiscal Q4 2025, and shows a Q4 EPS forecast around 4.17 on its table. ^[27]
Investing.com also lists Feb. 05, 2026 as the next earnings date. ^[28]

For LIN investors, the earnings setup is typically about three things:

confirmation that pricing and productivity continue to offset any volume softness,
updates to backlog/project starts, and
guidance tone (especially around Europe and global industrial activity).

Bottom line for LIN stock heading into Monday

With the market closed, Linde plc stock enters the final stretch of the year in a familiar position: a high-quality industrial franchise priced at a premium, with news flow temporarily dominated by filings and valuation takes rather than new corporate catalysts. ^[29]

What’s most likely to move LIN early next week isn’t a single company headline—it’s the interaction between thin year-end liquidity, broader market risk appetite, and whether investors keep paying up for “durable compounders” as the Santa Claus rally window continues. ^[30]