Linde PLC vs Ulta Beauty Inc — how do they compare? Linde PLC trades at $490.32 (market cap $227.01B), while Ulta Beauty Inc trades at $542.13 (market cap $23.59B). The key difference: Linde PLC is far larger — about 9.6× Ulta Beauty Inc's market cap, and Linde PLC pays a 1.3% dividend while Ulta Beauty Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| LIN | ULTA | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $227.01B | $23.59B |
Sector | Basic Materials | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $546.64 | $706.82 |
52-Week Low | $389.38 | $450.75 |
Enterprise Value | $250.13B | $25.67B |
Dividend Yield | 1.3% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Linde (LIN) trades at $490.53, up 0.11% on the day, with a bearish technical signal despite strong fundamentals. The stock has consistently beaten earnings estimates, with Q2 2026 EPS of $4.50 surpassing expectations. Revenue grew to $34.0B in 2025, with a net income margin of 20.43%. Analysts maintain a strong buy consensus with a $553.60 price target, highlighting robust profitability and dividend growth.
Outlook remains positive due to earnings momentum and sustainability leadership, but risks include elevated valuation multiples and rising debt-to-asset ratio. The stock offers steady income with a $1.60 dividend, yet technical weakness near support at $489 warrants caution for near-term volatility.
ULTA stock trades at $565.15, up 4.89% in the last session, with a bullish technical outlook supported by moving averages and strong support at $547. The company reported Q1 2026 EPS of $7.74, beating estimates, but faces margin compression with net income margin declining to 10.63% in 2025. Recent news highlights the end of its Target partnership as a potential growth opportunity, per BofA analysis on July 29, 2026.
The stock offers upside to the consensus price target of $618.29, with 57% of analysts rating it a buy, but risks include competitive pressures and volatile cash flows, with net cash flow turning negative in 2025. Investors should weigh robust ROE of 47.45% against elevated P/B of 9.41 and RSI levels suggesting overbought conditions.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Linde is the largest industrial gas supplier in the world, with operations in over 100 countries. The firm's main products are atmospheric gases (including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon) and process gases (including hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium), as well as equipment used in industrial gas production. Linde serves a wide variety of end markets, including chemicals, manufacturing, healthcare, and steelmaking. Linde generated approximately $31 billion in revenue and $5 billion in GAAP operating profit in 2021.
Read more on LIN →With more than 1,300 stores and a partnership with Target, Ulta Beauty is the largest specialized beauty retailer in the U.S. The firm offers makeup (43% of 2021 sales), fragrances, skin care, and hair care products (20% of 2021 sales), and bath and body items. Ulta offers private-label products and merchandise from more than 500 vendors. It also offers salon services, including hair, makeup, skin, and brow services, in all stores. Most Ulta stores are approximately 10,000 square feet and are in suburban strip centers. Ulta was founded in 1990 and is based in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
Read more on ULTA →