Air Liquide rides the AI wave to a record electronics backlog—but helium and balance-sheet moves add nuance
In its H1 2026 earnings call on July 28, L'Air Liquide (AI.PA) delivered a textbook example of how a mature industrial gas player can pivot to structural growth themes. Comparable sales growth accelerated to 3.5% in Q2, beating expectations, while investment decisions hit a record EUR 2.9B—up 26% Y/Y. The standout is project signings in Electronics, which reached over EUR 1B in H1 alone, representing 1.5x the full-year 2025 total.
François Jackow, CEO, was unequivocal about the driver:
In fact, in just the first 6 months of 2026, our Electronics project decisions reached over EUR 1 billion. If you think about it, that's 1.5x of our total for all 2025.
The surge is tied to advanced chips demand, particularly for high-bandwidth memory and AI logic. The company's DIG Airgas acquisition in Korea, closed ahead of schedule in Q1, is already contributing, with SK hynix wins in both the U.S. and Korea. This is not just a company story: the global tape shows "high bandwidth memory" and "advanced chips" among the top 30-day advancers, and peers like INTC and AMKR are echoing the same AI-infrastructure boom. Air Liquide is clearly front-running the market, with 40% of its backlog now Electronics and nearly 50% of its 12-month opportunity pipeline.
The balance sheet tells a more nuanced tale. Net debt rose EUR 5.5B sequentially to EUR 13.9B, driven by the DIG acquisition, seasonal dividend payments, and the deliberate termination of the factoring program. CFO Jérôme Pelletan explained the logic:
“The global helium supply chain remains a point of attention. Production on Qatar has restarted at limited capacity, and we are utilizing road transport for our helium ISO container, which helps ease global supply pressure.” — Jérôme Pelletan, Executive (likely CFO or Finance Director) · 2026-07-28Helium was a recurring drag on Industrial Merchant volumes, particularly in the Americas and Europe. The company expects the Qatar restart to limit the impact in H2, but the situation remains fluid. The factoring program exit, meanwhile, reduced financing costs by 7% like-for-like, offsetting the higher net debt.
Margin discipline and a confirmed guide
Operating margin expanded 110 bps (or 100 bps excluding DIG PPI), with pricing up 5% in merchant and efficiencies hitting a record EUR 299M in H1, up 4% Y/Y. The company reconfirmed its 2026–27 cumulative margin improvement target of 560 bps, a sign that the structural transformation program is on track. This echoes prior commentary: back in February, Francois Jackow noted the early signs of an electronics uptick, and the July 2025 call highlighted the company's strong positioning in U.S. reshoring and CHIPS Act tailwinds.
“We tend to see a more positive sign that could definitely, I mean, give us some uptick during the year, maybe not in Q1, but as we go during the year.” — François Jackow, Chief Executive Officer · 2026-02-20That optimism has now crystallized. The record electronics backlog provides visibility into 2027 and beyond, while the helium headwinds, though real, are being managed through supply diversification and long-term contracts. The company's Carrier gases segment is a particular beneficiary, as gas intensity per fab increases with each technology node.
Investors should watch whether the electronics momentum can sustain at the hinted 8–9% growth for the rest of 2026, and whether the helium shortage truly abates. For now, Air Liquide is executing on all fronts—today's earnings and tomorrow's growth are both in motion.