Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (APD)

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is a Delaware corporation founded in 1940 and a world-leading industrial gases company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol APD. It produces and sells industrial gases, related equipment, and applications expertise, with a focus on energy, environmental, and emerging markets. It also develops, engineers, builds, owns, and operates some of the world's largest clean hydrogen projects, which support the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in industrial applications and heavy-duty transportation.

The company reports under five segments: Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East and India, and Corporate and other. The four regional industrial gases segments produce atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon), process gases (hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, syngas), and specialty gases. They accounted for over 90% of consolidated sales in fiscal 2025, about half of them from atmospheric gases. Gases are supplied in two modes. On-site supply uses large or small plants built at or near customers or pipeline systems under long-term contracts of 15 to 20 years (10 to 15 years for small plants), and accounts for about half of sales. Merchant supply covers liquid bulk and packaged gases (cylinders and dewars) under contracts generally of five years or less. The Corporate and other segment includes equipment sales, which were under 10% of consolidated sales. This covers air separation and gas processing equipment, Rotoflow turboexpanders and precision rotating equipment, and Gardner Cryogenics helium and hydrogen transport and storage containers. The LNG process technology and equipment business was sold to Honeywell on 30 September 2024. The company mainly produces gray hydrogen and is advancing blue and green hydrogen projects such as the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project in Saudi Arabia, though it exited certain clean energy projects in fiscal 2025.

Customers span refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical, food, and energy production. No single customer exceeds 10% of consolidated sales, though there are concentrations in refining, chemicals, and electronics. Applications include hydrogen for refining and chemicals, oxygen for combustion and gasification, nitrogen for food processing and inerting, helium for semiconductors, fiber optics, MRI, and aerospace, and argon for metals. The company does business in about 50 countries and regions outside the United States, with controlling interests in subsidiaries in Canada, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa, and the Middle East. Its equity method investments are in foreign industrial gas producers, the largest in Algeria, China, India, Italy, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.

Electricity is the largest cost in producing atmospheric gases, and natural gas or other hydrocarbons are the main feedstocks for hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and syngas. Price swings are mitigated through pricing formulas, surcharges, cost pass-through provisions, and tolling. Helium is sourced globally and held in ISO containers and underground storage in Amarillo and Beaumont, Texas. Equipment manufacturing uses steel, aluminum, and components such as compressors. Competitors in industrial gases are Air Liquide, Linde, Messer, and regional players, with competition based on price, reliability of supply, and applications development. The company has research laboratories in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, China, and Saudi Arabia, and owned about 560 U.S. and 2,650 foreign patents in fiscal 2025. It had about 21,300 employees as of 30 September 2025, roughly 75% outside the United States.