Hensoldt AG

H1 2026 order intake doubled year-over-year to more than EUR 2.8 billion, with a book-to-bill ratio of 2.4x. Revenue increased 24% to more than EUR 1.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose 29% to EUR 137 million, with margin at 11.8%, up 0.5 percentage points. Adjusted EBIT margin expanded 0.9 percentage points to 6.0%. Adjusted free cash flow improved 25% year-over-year to minus EUR 136 million. Backlog rose 46% to over EUR 10 billion. For the full year, management reaffirmed guidance for book-to-bill of 1.5x to 2x, revenue of approximately EUR 2.7 billion, adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.5% to 19%, cash conversion of approximately 50%, leverage around 1.5x, and a dividend payout ratio of 30% to 40% of adjusted net income. Midterm, it reiterated around 15% to 20% average annual organic revenue growth, about 50 basis points of margin expansion per year, and cash conversion normalizing to 50% to 60%.

Oliver Dorre emphasized that NATO and broader geopolitical shifts are translating into a multi-year defense investment cycle that favors HENSOLDT’s sensors, software-defined defense and multi-domain integration portfolio. He repeatedly argued that the company is positioned across both conventional platforms and next-generation systems, reducing reliance on any single program. His tone was confident and strategic, with heavy emphasis on political support, capacity buildout, and the idea that HENSOLDT is moving from capacity investment to industrial delivery.

Christian Ladurner described H1 as a record first half with strong growth across all major KPIs and said the company is converting demand into tangible financial results. He cited more than EUR 2.8 billion of order intake, more than EUR 1.1 billion of revenue, EUR 137 million of adjusted EBITDA at an 11.8% margin, and minus EUR 136 million of adjusted free cash flow, which improved 25% year-over-year. He also said pass-through revenues should be around EUR 170 million for the year, reiterated approximately EUR 150 million of full-year pass-through contribution in Sensors, and maintained the full-year targets for revenue, margin, cash conversion, leverage and dividend policy.

Analysts pressed management on the apparent second-half revenue slowdown, the Sensors margin trajectory, F126’s naval implications, MEKO A-200 opportunities, space strategy, PEGASUS exports, luWES, and GCAP. Management said the sales guide looks conservative because H1 benefitted from pass-throughs and spillover effects, while H2 will be weighted by lower pass-throughs and later-year program timing; they also said September should clarify whether some one-off opportunities convert. On naval, management said F126 is not material and that future opportunities remain intact through TRS-4D, CMS 330 and broader fleet harmonization; on PEGASUS, it said export campaigns are maturing and first export bookings are more likely in 2028, while luWES could be at the upper end of the stated opportunity range and space is being pursued with partners on an ISR/sensor basis.