Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD)

Air Products makes industrial gases and hydrogen — a long-contract business, as with its peers.

Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen for refining, metals, electronics and healthcare. A plant is built on the customer's site under a ten- to twenty-year take-or-pay contract: the customer pays regardless of volume taken. Hence predictability unusual for industry.

The company's distinction is a large bet on hydrogen projects: green and blue hydrogen plants in Saudi Arabia, the United States and Canada. These are multi-billion capital commitments with decade-long paybacks and dependence on government incentives.

The scale of those projects became the point of contention with investors: some consider the risk excessive, and the pressure led to a change of leadership and revised plans. The company pays a dividend with a long record of increases.