Air Liquide (Euronext Paris: AI) reported first-quarter 2026 revenue on April 28, 2026, of EUR 7,028 million, down 3.5 percent as published but up 3.4 percent excluding currency and energy effects. Comparable sales growth was +1.9 percent year over year, with the DIG Airgas acquisition - closed January 13, 2026 for around EUR 3 billion - contributing for the first time on a full-quarter basis.
By geography, the press release reported Americas comparable growth of +5.5 percent, led by Large Industry at +8.3 percent and Merchant at +5.3 percent; Asia at +8.3 percent including DIG; and EMEA stable. By business line, Healthcare grew +4 percent, Electronics +3 percent and Industrial Merchant +3 percent on a comparable basis. The company posted EUR 142 million in efficiencies for the quarter, up 8 percent versus Q1 2025, and ended the period with a record EUR 5.5 billion investment backlog. Air Liquide also confirmed its 2026 guidance of a +100 basis points operating margin improvement and recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates.
For process analytics, two items in the release matter. The first is the DIG Airgas integration, which doubles Air Liquide’s footprint in South Korea and is expected to contribute approximately EUR 900 million in annual revenue, weighted to electronics customers - gas-purity, moisture and trace-contaminant monitoring follows that footprint. The second is a separately announced EUR 200 million investment in two new industrial gas production units in Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to a semiconductor customer for next-generation chip manufacturing. Read alongside Linde’s Q1 2026 print, the message from the two largest industrial gas operators is the same: backlog expansion centred on electronics and on-site customer projects, which translates into a steady demand floor for in-plant analyser content over the build-out window. The Q1 prints from BASF, Dow and DuPont showed more divergent margin trajectories in the same quarter.