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Analyst
James Hooper
Period: Reporting periods mapped to calendar 2025 Q2 – 2026 Q2 (5 quarters).
- Questions
- 13on tracked calls
- Challenge rate
- 15%2 of 13 questions
- Companies
- 3questioned at least once
- Reporting periods
- 5with questions
These figures cover the whole profile: every tracked question, all reporting periods.
How to read these numbers
Challenge rate is the share of questions that pushed back, pressed for specifics or questioned management’s assumptions. It describes how questions were asked on the calls tracked here; it does not measure whether any view turned out to be right.
Rounding. Rates are rounded to whole percentages, so a small share can show as 0% even when some questions were challenging. The count beside each rate is exact; “none of N questions” means no question was challenging.
No questions recorded. “—” means there is nothing to calculate: no questions were recorded for that period on the calls tracked here. It does not mean there was no activity.
Fewer than 3 questions. A company-level rate is withheld when fewer than 3 questions were recorded for that company; the questions are still counted everywhere else.
Small samples. Profiles with fewer than 10 questions are marked Limited sample.
Reporting periods. Questions are grouped by the calendar quarter each company’s fiscal reporting period maps to, not by the date of the call. Periods without a calendar mapping are listed separately under their fiscal label.
Questions asked
Grouped by company, most questions first. Open a company to read its questions, newest reporting period first.
Showing 13 of 13 questions from 3 companies
APDAir Products7 questions · 4 reporting periods · 0 of 7 challenging
Calendar 2026 Q2
Can you go through a little bit more detail on what happens to the kit and the LAN, how you're thinking about it
Show response
Eduardo said the Louisiana/Darrow equipment (air separation, hydrogen purification, 4,000 tons/day ammonia loop) is world-class and largely purchased; APD aims to redeploy the industrial-gas kit internally and sell the ammonia units as a whole to recover value.
how are you thinking about capital allocation and projects or potentially starting a buyback?
Show response
Melissa said buybacks are in the capital-allocation waterfall with a line of sight to begin around late 2027/early 2028, after prioritizing high-return projects and continued dividend growth.
Calendar 2026 Q1
Can you talk about -- a little bit about the pricing dynamics for the non-helium gases through the rest of the year?
Show response
Eduardo noted China pricing hypercompetitive with negative PPI/CPI. Outside China, expects to continue passing inflation to prices. Helium headwind expected to end by fiscal year-end.
Can you just give us a few indications of where you expect the biggest kind of shifts in your end markets to come from the second half
Show response
Eduardo highlighted electronics and aerospace as bright spots. U.S. Gulf Coast hydrogen volumes at record levels. Food and medical segments very stable and less cyclical.
Calendar 2025 Q4
it was interesting at the European volumes are up 5% year-on-year. is Europe back?
Show response
Eduardo cautioned that Europe 5% volume growth was partly driven by lapping prior year turnarounds. European economy remains complicated but packaged gas and retail channels show less pressure than large on-site customers.
Can you talk a little bit about the kind of the opportunity there, your opportunity with commercial space providers
Show response
Eduardo confirmed aerospace at ~2% of total sales. Melissa estimated APD has 40-50% U.S. space market share with projected 6-7% annual growth. Working to grow share in commercial launches.
Calendar 2025 Q2
can we have an update on the other underperforming projects in Edmonton, Rotterdam, Arizona?
Show response
Eduardo confirmed no change in CapEx or schedule for underperforming projects since last quarter. Melissa noted Edmonton and Rotterdam are customer-backed unlike NEOM/Louisiana.
PPGPPG Industries5 questions · 5 reporting periods · 2 of 5 challenging
Calendar 2026 Q2
I'd like to go into a little bit more detail about the Refinish margin and how you see that coming back over time?
Show response
Answered with two specific drivers, destocking completion and continued pricing, and committed to margin growth from Q3.
Calendar 2026 Q1
We've got Europe running out of jet fuel flight cancellations and other potential issues if the conflict continues
Show response
Knavish sees no impact from potential flight mile slowdowns. Three reasons: business balanced roughly 50% OEM / 50% aftermarket across commercial, general aviation and military; aftermarket inventory never rebuilt post-COVID (weekly restocking calls still coming in); if commercial aftermarket dips, inventory rebuild continues while military grows on NATO defense spending. Potential improved mix since aftermarket is richer than OEM.
Calendar 2025 Q4
Can you unpack a few more of the drivers for us, please? Is this to do with kind of your positioning in China?
Show response
Knavish cited customer mix recovery, new lower-cure products, new electro coat product with productivity/sustainability benefits, automotive parts growth, and strong position with large China EV manufacturer. Morales added South America share gain from competitor exit (full quarterly benefit in Q4) plus double-digit millions new wins launching in 2026.
Calendar 2025 Q3
It seems that a lot of the coatings players and your peers are all seeming calling out share gains, and this seems to be an increasingly competitive volume environment
Show response
Knavish saw no fundamental competitive structure changes except China's crowded market. In refinish, #1 and #2 players (PPG and one other) are net winners while smaller players lose. Tough times accentuate productivity solution advantage. Morales noted litmus test is gaining volume plus positive price simultaneously.
Calendar 2025 Q2
I was interested to see whether the share gains you've made have had any impact on the incremental margins from gaining share
Show response
Knavish clarified share gains are at segment-average gross margins, but volume launch drives net margin expansion through fixed cost leverage and manufacturing efficiencies. Net margin expansion expected to materialize through H2.
LINLinde plc1 question · 1 reporting period · 0 of 1 challenging
Calendar 2026 Q2
can you give a little bit more indication of the margins of these projects?
Show response
Sanjiv said backlog projects meet a post-tax double-digit unlevered IRR and improve on margin through a 2-3 year ramp to full utilization.
Challenge rate by company
Every company this analyst questioned, most questions first. A company-level rate is shown from 3 questions; below that it is withheld.
| Company | Questions | Challenge rate |
|---|---|---|
| APD Air Products | 7 | 0%none of 7 questions |
| PPG PPG Industries | 5 | 40%2 of 5 questions |
| LIN Linde plc | 1 | —Rate withheld: fewer than 3 questions |
Activity by reporting period
Questions recorded for each calendar quarter that companies’ reporting periods map to (not the call date), with the challenge rate for that period. Periods inside the range with no questions are shown as “No questions recorded”.
| Calendar period | Questions | Challenge rate | Companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q2 | 2 | 0%none of 2 questions | 2 |
| 2025 Q3 | 1 | 100%1 of 1 question | 1 |
| 2025 Q4 | 3 | 0%none of 3 questions | 2 |
| 2026 Q1 | 3 | 33%1 of 3 questions | 2 |
| 2026 Q2 | 4 | 0%none of 4 questions | 3 |
- 2025 Q22 questions · challenge rate 0% (none of 2 questions) · 2 companies
- 2025 Q31 question · challenge rate 100% (1 of 1 question) · 1 company
- 2025 Q43 questions · challenge rate 0% (none of 3 questions) · 2 companies
- 2026 Q13 questions · challenge rate 33% (1 of 3 questions) · 2 companies
- 2026 Q24 questions · challenge rate 0% (none of 4 questions) · 3 companies
Topics
Topics tagged on this analyst’s questions.
- Demand5
- Macroeconomic4
- Capex Investment3
- Margin3
- Competitive Dynamics3
- Capital Allocation2
- Pricing2
- Revenue Growth1
- Innovation & R&D1
- Guidance Reliability1