Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc filed its 10-Q with the SEC, and its figures are now in our data. Revenue over the twelve months to Q3 2026 was $4.6 billion, which rose 11.1% on the year before. That growth rate was up 1.8 percentage points on the rate a quarter earlier.

What stands out in the filings

Net income rose 9.6% over the year while free cash flow fell 6.3%: reported profit and cash are moving at different speeds. Capital spending rose 34.0%, faster than operating cash flow’s 0.7%, so less of the cash generated was left over.

What the company earns

Reported profit is running well ahead of the cash. The trailing gross margin was 35.5%. The trailing operating margin was 17.3%, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the trailing net margin was 12.4%. Net income over the twelve months was $575.3 million, which rose 9.6% on the year before.

Where the cash went

Spending is outrunning the cash the business brings in, so less is left over. Operating cash flow over the twelve months was $666.7 million, up 0.7% on the year before. Capital spending was $154.8 million, or 3.3% of revenue. Free cash flow, operating cash flow less capital spending, was $511.9 million, down 6.3% on the year before. Free cash flow was 11.0% of revenue (the free-cash-flow margin), down 2.1 percentage points from a year earlier.

Share count

Growth is speeding up. The average diluted share count fell 1.8% over the year.

How today compares

In the context of past results: today’s free-cash-flow margin of 11.0% is higher than 55% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from 6.1% to 14.1%. Today’s operating margin of 17.3% is higher than 98% of past readings (5.0% to 17.4%). Today’s twelve-month revenue growth rate of 11.1% is higher than 73% of past readings (−14.1% to 26.7%).

What it means for value

For valuation, the figures matter through our model. In our model, growth 5 percentage points lower would lower the value by 26.0%, and 5 percentage points higher would raise it by 33.7%. A free-cash-flow margin 1 percentage point lower would lower it by 8.8%.

Next to watch

The next filing will show whether the trends above continue, slow or reverse.