Kion Group AG

Group Q2 revenue increased 8% year over year, adjusted EBIT increased 18% to EUR 224 million, and adjusted EBIT margin was 7.7%. Net income attributable to shareholders increased 19% to EUR 112 million, and EPS improved to EUR 0.86. Order intake was EUR 2.8 billion, 20% lower year over year against a record quarter in IAS last year. ITS Q2 revenue rose 2% with adjusted EBIT of EUR 183 million and an 8.8% margin; IAS Q2 revenue rose 23% with adjusted EBIT of EUR 60 million and a 7.0% margin. Free cash flow was minus EUR 25 million, though management said it was solidly positive excluding the EUR 63 million acquisition cash out, additional pension funding, and efficiency-program expenses. For 2026, KION now expects ITS revenue of EUR 8.2 billion-EUR 8.5 billion and adjusted EBIT of EUR 765 million-EUR 835 million; IAS revenue of EUR 3.325 billion-EUR 3.525 billion and adjusted EBIT of EUR 230 million-EUR 270 million. Management also said group guidance ranges were narrowed and midpoints were slightly lower across outlook metrics.

Rob Smith framed the quarter as a positive first half, with both operating segments improving profitability and the company seeing the trough behind it in its markets. He emphasized KION’s push into next-generation supply chain robotics, especially autonomous pallet trucks and truck loading/unloading, and highlighted concrete AI use cases in spare-parts logistics that are improving productivity and on-time fulfillment. His tone was confident but measured: he repeatedly described the guidance as balanced and said the company remains subject to no additional significant geopolitical burdens.

Christian Harm focused on the numbers and the drivers behind them: ITS benefited from efficiency-program savings and lower long-term incentive costs, while IAS benefited from higher revenue and lower long-term incentive expenses. He noted non-recurring items were positive in the quarter, net financial expenses improved, and tax expense was EUR 61 million at a 35% tax rate; net income attributable to shareholders was EUR 112 million and EPS was EUR 0.86. On cash and capital allocation, he said free cash flow was minus EUR 25 million in the quarter but would have been solidly positive excluding EUR 63 million of acquisition cash out, pension funding, and efficiency-program spending; he also confirmed the EUR 200 million M&A budget remains in place and explained the EUR 500 million bond proceeds used to refinance leasing liabilities.

Analysts pressed on whether the new ITS EBIT guidance implies a very strong Q4, and management said higher second-half revenue, better efficiency-program savings phasing, and pricing effects should support the result, while avoiding explicit quarter-by-quarter phasing claims. Questions also focused on ITS gross margin pressure, where Christian Harm said the sequential decline was mainly mix-driven, with some late-month FX impact, rather than a pure pricing issue. On competition, management acknowledged stronger Chinese player growth and said KION is not chasing deals that would compromise margin discipline; on humanoid robots, Rob Smith said they are more relevant for smaller picking/placing tasks than for moving pallets, but could become part of KION’s broader automation solutions over the next three to five years.