BofA double upgrades Air Liquide to 'buy', sees electronics driving growth

Air Liquide

01/07/2026 13:16

** Bank of America double upgrades industrial gas supplier Air Liquide's AIRP.PA shares to "buy" from "underperform," as it sees the company's electronics franchise to lead growth 
** Brokerage deems consensus to miss the improvement of the mix and duration of the company's growth outlook, noting the electronics franchise is 10% of current sales but AI-led semiconductor capex represents 40% of the investment backlog
** BofA says the 40% may increase based on forecasts of growing semiconductor capex, which it estimates to rise to $370 billion in 2030 from $190 billion in 2025 
** "Our analysis concludes that the electronics franchise is set to organically grow at c14% through 2026-30E, effectively double the rate in consensus" - BofA 
** Electronics becoming an increasingly important contributor, driving 40% of BofA's estimated 4.5% group organic growth in 2027 and expect it also to be margin accretive - brokerage
** Out of 22 analysts covering AIRP, 20 rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy," and 2 rate it "hold" - data compiled by LSEG
     

 (Reporting by Margaux Perrin in Gdansk)
 ((Margaux.Perrin@thomsonreuters.com))