Air Liquide's Transformation Plan to Drive Efficiency

L'Air Liquide S.A AIQUY has initiated a new Group transformation initiative to foster agility and improve efficiency using its ADVANCE strategic plan for 2025, increased performance ambition and a record-high number of investment possibilities.

To complement this effort, the Group is announcing a number of organizational and governance reforms, which will take effect from Sep 1, 2024.

Air Liquide's strong business model and successful implementation of its ADVANCE strategic plan have put the company on solid footing.

Seizing these growing economic prospects, which contribute to addressing important global concerns such as industrial decarbonization or promoting the expansion of the electronics sector, would necessitate significant investment.

AIQUY will also need to simplify its internal organization in order to improve agility, accelerate decision-making and exploit the company's scale to gain a competitive edge.

This multi-year transformation initiative, which is part of Air Liquide's ADVANCE strategic plan and associated performance ambition, is intended to position the company for long-term success by boosting performance while improving how the Group adds value to its stakeholders.

Simplifying the organizational matrix is a crucial aspect of performance delivery. To that purpose, Air Liquide will execute a number of reforms, including removing organizational levels and adopting a streamlined structure comprising operations and functions that communicate directly.

Furthermore, a single global Group Industrial Direction will be established to better serve its diverse customer base by optimizing the Group's industrial processes, assuring the quality, dependability and efficiency of customers.

Shares of Air Liquide have lost 3.3% over the past year compared with a 10.3% decline of its industry.

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Air Liquide currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include ATI Inc. ATI, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS, and Ecolab Inc. ECL.

ATI carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). ATI beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 8.3%. The company's shares have soared 21.7% in the past year.

Carpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 15.1%. The company's shares have soared 90% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ecolab's current-year earnings is pegged at $6.59 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 26.5%. ECL, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 1.3%. The company's shares have rallied roughly 26.2% in the past year.

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