Quality Investor

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.

Rank #136Hypergrowth

LECO · Nasdaq · Industrials

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (LECO) — Rank #136 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.40) · ROE 33.5% · Piotroski F-Score 7 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000059527 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products in the United States and internationally.

Show more

It operates in three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. The company offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, specialty gas regulators, and education solutions; and a portfolio of automated solutions and system integration services for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business. It also provides mobile power solutions, including vehicle-mounted compressors, generators, welders, hydraulics, charger/boosters, and electrified power equipment; automated welding system and solutions; and specialty welding consumables, wear plates, and maintenance and repair services for alloy and wear-resistant products, as well as develops and integrates autonomous guided vehicles and mobile robots, custom assembly and test systems, and proprietary manufacturing execution system software. The company serves general fabrication, oil and gas, power generation, process, automotive and transportation, and construction and infrastructure industries, as well as heavy fabrication, ship building, and maintenance and repair markets. It sells its products directly to users of welding products, including OEMs, manufacturers, and integrators, as well as through industrial distributors, retailers, and agents. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.

was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Industry
Tools & Accessories
Sector
Industrials
State
OH
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

LECO+99.7% · +14.8% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$13.73B

P/E (annual)

27.0

P/S (annual)

3.2

P/B

8.8

P/OCF (annual)

20.8

Shareholder Yield

8.2%

Employees

12,000

Industry

Tools & Accessories

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

3 green1 yellow
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.40
Return on equity
33.5%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.45
Current ratio
1.98×
Net cash
-$1.05B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.5%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
30.9%
Piotroski F-Score
7 / 9
Share dilution
-7.0%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

11.5%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -7.0% — per-share value needs a total required return of 4.5% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 15.4%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

6.9%

r = 10% (base)

11.5%

r = 12%

15.4%

Net debt / market cap: 7.5%

Base FCF: $534.2M3Y mean FCF: $302.1M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

20.3xCheap
17.6xmed 23.1x33.7x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.6xExpensive
1.6xmed 2.2x2.6x

P / B

Price / book value per share

9.3xExpensive
4.0xmed 6.4x9.3x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

7.5xExpensive
4.9xmed 6.6x8.0x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

30.8xExpensive
15.4xmed 22.4x30.8x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.40

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

86th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Return on equity

33.5%

Gross margin

36.2%

29th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

30.9%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2019202020212022
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

3.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.45

20th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.98×

46th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Quick ratio

0.93×

Net cash

-$1.05B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$534.20M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.03

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.5%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.8 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
32.3%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
3.18×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
10 yr5/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.45 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

7 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20172022
Capital Return
Value
Decline
Op. Leverage