Sandvik, Assa Abloy, Hexagon, ABB. There are clearly many Swedish industrial companies that shine with quality straight through. One of the ones that I think has shown the most quality is our well-known Atlas Copco. This is a stock that has always been great to buy during the worse periods the company has been through. The question is not whether the last two difficult years provide a good buying opportunity.

We all probably have our own memories of when we first came into contact with companies. I started looking in and investing in Atlas along along Investor AB since 2023 onwards.

Atlas Copco is much broader and perhaps larger than many people think. Many people naturally think of their manufacturing, sales and service of stationary industrial  compressors  (providing compressed air to factories). This is not wrong, as compressor technology accounts for about half of the company’s profits. But Atlas Copco is much more than that.

In addition to compressors, the company has three other areas that are large in their own way:

Within these areas, the company is further divided into a total of 24 different divisions and today Atlas Copco has no less than 60,000 employees. It is a huge employer.

Many people think that Atlas Copco manufactures and sells machines and that’s it. That’s also true, but we must not forget all the service that accounts for almost 40% of total revenue.

We must also not forget that Atlas is a huge acquisition machine where for decades they have bought many companies with strong finances. In the last few years alone, around 30 new companies have been acquired. In total, they now have a total of 650 different subsidiaries. It is quite difficult to grasp and something that many people forget.

Each part gets to make its own decisions, but when purchasing and transporting things, it is done jointly to save money.

It has now been two fairly difficult years for the company and the share has fallen from its all-time high of SEK 175/share to now SEK 150 and started picking up recently.

Historically, it has always been worth buying Atlas Copco when the price has fallen.

In the latest report from 2025, we read that Atlas Copco is optimistic about the future of the business area, but that it will take time to find its way back.

The fact that the company is facing problems in the forward-looking order intake is nothing new in history. Many compare the company to the shining star Nibe, which has become a falling knife. The difference is perhaps that Atlas is so much more diversified.

The valuation has not fallen significantly despite all this, but is at about 20 times EV/EBIT for estimated profit of 2026. That’s about where it usually is. The situation is uncertain in the short term, but there is no question that Atlas will find a way back. I would be surprised if it didn’t.