“we are still not assuming any meaningful economic recovery in the guidance.”

In context

“high-quality growth despite the stagnant trends of global industrial activity. Second quarter EPS of $3.85, operating margins of 29.3% and return on capital of 25.7% all reached new highs, driven by the unwavering efforts of our 66,000 employees who actively manage what we can control. Turning to volume trends; you'll notice we were flat year-on-year. Last quarter, we described potential challenges in the industrial macro. And for the most part, it has played out as expected. This is why we initiated the self-help actions which enable us to create shareholder value in any environment. That being said, the current quarter experienced a 3% sequential volume growth. And while some of this relates to seasonality, certain regions had organic volume improvements. While this is a positive sign, we are still not assuming any meaningful economic recovery in the guidance. Some may view this as overly cautious. But given the uncertain environment, I believe it's prudent to take this approach. As you know, when industrial activity recovers, our network density will enable us to supply that additional volume to our existing and new customers. Until then, we will continue with disciplined pricing and proactive actions to ensure earnings growth in this environment. Slide 3 provides more color on end market growth trends. Starting with consumer-related end markets, food and beverage continues the strong resilient growth trend at 8% over prior year, in part attributed to Linde's total systems approach. This includes growing demand for higher quality and more innovative frozen foods, food packaging safety and dry ice for meal delivery services as consumers opt for”