Air Products and Chemicals (APD) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

Air Products and Chemicals makes industrial gases — things like oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and helium. These gases are sold to factories, hospitals, steel mills, semiconductor chip makers, and energy companies. It is one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world, competing mainly with Linde and Air Liquide.

The company makes most of its money through long-term contracts, often building a gas plant right next to a customer's facility and supplying them for 15 to 20 years. It operates in over 50 countries and generates roughly $12 billion in annual revenue. Air Products is making a large bet on clean hydrogen as a future growth driver, investing billions in projects across the Middle East and elsewhere — but those projects are expensive, slow to build, and carry real execution risk if demand for clean hydrogen develops more slowly than expected.

Winston Score History

Politician Trades

27 trades / 12mo

14 Congressional buys and 13 sells on APD in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+8.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+141.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$96M/ year

→ Flat (-4% vs prior year)

0.8% of revenue

Below sector average (3%)

Steady R&D investment year-over-year

Insider Activity

0.2%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Runway

~19 months

$951M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Adequate runway but may need to raise capital within 2 years

Growth context

Air Products and Chemicals is growing revenue at 9% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Share count broadly stable

+0.2% over 4y

The share count has stayed roughly flat over this period — little dilution or buyback activity.

Diluted shares outstanding: 222.5M (2021) → 222.9M (2025)

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

31.1%

Modest — 31.1% gross margin

Operating Margin

23.7%

Excellent — 23.7% operating margin

ROCE

2.3%

Weak — 2.3% return on capital

ROIC between 0% and 5%. They earn a few cents back per dollar invested in the business.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+0.6%

Nearly flat sales (0.6% YoY)

EPS YoY

-107.8%

Earnings shrinking (-107.8% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

EPS Consistency

4/8 quarters

Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

N/A

Data not available

FCF Margin

-21.2%

Burning cash (-21.2%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

1.13

Elevated debt (1.13)

Interest Cover

N/A

Data not available

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

31.9x

Pricey — P/E 31.9

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

P/E vs Forward

+12.9

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (31.9 → 19.1)

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Dividends

Dividend Yield

2.44%

Moderate income — 2.44% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend Growth

+1.1%

Dividend flat

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