The Short Answer
Chart Industries (GTLS) is qualitatively halal, but the current financial screen fails on debt/assets. Chart is a diversified manufacturer of highly-engineered equipment and systems for the cryogenic and process industries.
Cryogenic-equipment, heat-transfer-systems, and process-technology-equipment manufacturing are generally permissible at the activity level. The March 31, 2026 filing reports debt/assets of 39.07%, above the examined 33.333% limits; the debt load taken on for the Howden acquisition remains the decisive quantitative issue.
Current quantitative Sharia screen
Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-15.
3,786.8 / 9,691.6
267.9 / 9,691.6
1,031.3 / 9,691.6
2.2 / 884.8
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 39.07%, above the examined 33.333% limit; liquidity/assets is 2.76%, receivables-plus-cash/assets is 10.64% and disclosed interest income is 0.25%.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 39.07%, above the examined MSCI 33.33% limit; liquidity and receivables-plus-cash remain below their limits.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 39.07%, above the examined Malaysia SAC limit; identifiable liquidity/assets is below its limit. This is not an official classification.
- Financial
- Not calculated
- Overall
- Fails
A licensed historical market-cap series is not stored; the asset-based debt failure is independently documented.
Business-activity disclosure
Chart Industries manufactures cryogenic, heat-transfer and process-technology equipment across cryogenic storage, specialty products and repair/service activities. The core activity is generally permissible, but the filing does not provide a universal prohibited-revenue numerator for all project and customer end uses.
Limitation: No universal prohibited-activity revenue numerator or scholar-specific purification percentage is disclosed; the screen does not infer one from project customers.
Purification
Chart reports $2.2 million of interest income within net interest expense, but no scholar-specific purification percentage is asserted and the activity numerator remains incomplete.
Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
- Amounts are USD millions from Chart Industries' March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q.
- Debt is the $3,786.8 million combined current and noncurrent long-term debt; operating leases are excluded.
- Cash and cash equivalents are $267.9 million; restricted cash is not added and no separate interest-bearing security balance is identified.
- Accounts receivable, net is $763.4 million and first-quarter revenue is $884.8 million.
- The interest-expense table reports $2.2 million of interest income within $73.0 million of net interest expense; this is used as the disclosed income input.
- Cryogenic, heat-transfer, hydrogen, water-treatment and carbon-capture equipment is generally permissible, while energy and industrial end uses remain qualitative context.
This is a reproducible financial screen, not a fatwa. A failed total-assets screen can coexist with a pass under a market-cap methodology. ZakatInvest keeps the qualitative assessment separate so numerical thresholds do not erase material context.
Sharia Screening Methodology
Islamic scholars use several criteria to screen stocks:
- Business activity screen: Is the company's primary business halal?
- Debt ratio: Total debt / market cap must be under 33%
- Interest income: Interest income / total revenue must be under 5%
- Haram revenue: Revenue from haram sources must be under 5%
- Receivables ratio: Total receivables / total assets must be under 49–70% (varies by board)
Chart's Business Activity
Chart Industries operates through reporting segments including:
- Cryo Tank Solutions: Cryogenic storage tanks and related equipment
- Heat Transfer Systems: Heat exchangers, cold boxes, and process systems
- Specialty Products: Hydrogen, water-treatment, carbon-capture, and other specialty equipment
- Repair, Service & Leasing: A large and growing aftermarket recurring-revenue base
These are general-purpose industrial-process-equipment businesses serving industrial-gas, LNG, hydrogen, carbon-capture, and water-treatment markets. This is permissible at the activity level.
Concerns to Be Aware Of
1. Leverage (Primary Consideration)
Chart took on substantial leverage to fund its acquisition of Howden and has been actively de-levering. The debt-to-market-cap ratio should be verified against the 33% threshold at the time of investment — this is the primary Sharia-screening consideration and may cause some boards to flag the stock until the ratio normalizes.
2. Capital Structure
Chart maintains a tranche of preferred stock and a significant debt load. Investors who screen for capital-structure and preferred-equity considerations should review the balance sheet at the time of investment.
3. Cyclicality
Earnings can be sensitive to energy-and-industrial capital-spending cycles and large-project timing. This is a business-cycle consideration rather than a Sharia screen concern.
Filing-Based Ratios (March 31, 2026)
Based on Chart's latest Form 10-Q and consolidated financial statements:
- Debt / assets: 39.07%, above the examined 33.333% limit.
- Cash + interest-bearing securities / assets: 2.76%, below the examined liquidity limit.
- Receivables + cash / assets: 10.64%, below the examined asset-based limits.
- Disclosed interest income / revenue: 0.25%.
- Prohibited-activity revenue: Not separately disclosed; no universal percentage is invented.
Methodology Interpretation
The known financial screen fails under the examined FTSE Yasaar, MSCI and Malaysia-style asset-based ratios because debt/assets is 39.07%. That is a current ZakatInvest calculation, not an index-membership claim or a universal scholarly ruling; the prohibited-activity numerator remains incomplete.
Bottom Line
Chart Industries (GTLS) has a generally permissible core business, but the current filing-based debt screen fails. The company should be revisited after debt reduction or a new filing; a licensed market-cap denominator is not stored in this screen.
For Muslim investors seeking industrial-process and energy-transition equipment exposure, GTLS sits alongside other halal-screened names like Flowserve (FLS) and Kadant (KAI).
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