CL vs LIN
Colgate Palmolive Co. and Linde PLC, side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | CL | LIN |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $20.4B | $34.0B |
| Net income | $2.1B | $6.9B |
| Gross margin | 60.1% | 48.8% |
| Net margin | 11.1% | 20.8% |
| Return on equity | · | 18.1% |
| Diluted EPS | $2.63 | $14.61 |
| Dividend / share | $2.08 | $6.00 |
| Payout ratio | · | 40.8% |
| Free cash flow | $3.6B | $5.1B |
| Equity | $54.0M | $38.2B |
| Net debt / equity | 124.04× | 0.46× |
| Current ratio | 0.83× | 0.88× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 4.4% | 4.5% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | −4.6% | 22.5% |
LIN bills 1.7× the revenue of CL, and keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (20.8% against 11.1%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | CL | LIN |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $20.4B | $34.0B |
| FY2024 | $20.1B | $33.0B |
| FY2023 | $19.5B | $32.9B |
| FY2022 | $18.0B | $33.4B |
| FY2021 | $17.4B | $30.8B |
| FY2020 | $16.5B | $27.2B |
| FY2019 | $15.7B | $28.2B |
| FY2018 | $15.5B | $14.8B |
| FY2017 | $15.5B | $11.4B |
| FY2016 | $15.2B | $10.5B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | CL | LIN |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.1B | $6.9B |
| FY2024 | $2.9B | $6.6B |
| FY2023 | $2.3B | $6.2B |
| FY2022 | $1.8B | $4.1B |
| FY2021 | $2.2B | $3.8B |
| FY2020 | $2.7B | $2.5B |
| FY2019 | $2.4B | $2.3B |
| FY2018 | $2.4B | $4.4B |
| FY2017 | $2.0B | $1.2B |
| FY2016 | $2.4B | $1.5B |
10 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$13,604,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2024 | −$12,904,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2023 | −$13,397,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2022 | −$15,397,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2021 | −$13,372,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2020 | −$10,772,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2019 | −$12,535,000,000 | LIN |
| FY2018 | +$708,000,000 | CL |
| FY2017 | +$4,096,000,000 | CL |
| FY2016 | +$4,661,000,000 | CL |
The higher-revenue side has changed between CL and LIN over this period. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
10 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −9.7 pp | LIN |
| FY2024 | −5.2 pp | LIN |
| FY2023 | −6.7 pp | LIN |
| FY2022 | −1.9 pp | LIN |
| FY2021 | +0.6 pp | CL |
| FY2020 | +7.7 pp | CL |
| FY2019 | +7.7 pp | CL |
| FY2018 | −13.2 pp | LIN |
| FY2017 | +2.6 pp | CL |
| FY2016 | +2.4 pp | CL |
The higher net margin has changed hands between CL and LIN over this period.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
LIN's net margin has been more volatile than CL's over the 10 comparable fiscal years — 6.2 percentage points of standard deviation against 2.2.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in net margin changed hands between CL and LIN over these 10 fiscal years — CL led in 5 and LIN in 5.
10 of 19 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
CL's return on equity has been more volatile than LIN's over the 5 comparable fiscal years — 150.3 percentage points of standard deviation against 4.4.
5 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
CL led in return on equity in every one of the 5 comparable fiscal years — a structural lead, not a recent swing.
5 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.