Indra Raises Defense Revenue Growth Forecast to More Than 80% in 2026
Key Facts
Indra raised its forecast for revenue growth in its defense business, excluding space, to more than 80% in 2026, from about 70% in its previous estimate, the company’s management said during its earnings call. The revision reflects an acceleration in a business that has become one of the main growth drivers for the Spanish group. Defense revenue rose 100% year on year in the first nine months of the year and increased 95% in the third quarter alone, Indra said in a filing. Over the same period, the group recorded revenue growth across all its divisions. The company kept its 2026 financial targets unchanged despite raising its defense forecast.
The chief financial officer said special modernization programs were one of the growth drivers, noting that their revenue totaled 374 million euros during the first five months and that the company was targeting 600 million euros for the year. Other drivers include the land-vehicle business, which includes TESS work, radar projects in Germany and Ukraine, as well as the performance of the weapons and ammunition division, the company said. The higher forecast is therefore not attributable to a single program, but to concurrent contributions from multiple defense business lines. This breadth provides context for the acceleration in revenue in the third quarter, when Indra attributed higher defense sales to modernization programs, vehicles and radar projects. The chief financial officer also pointed to Eurofighter’s contribution to business growth.
In the vehicle business, TESS delivered a total of 60 vehicles in the first nine months and generated revenue of 276 million euros, the chief financial officer said. He noted that 18 additional vehicles had been announced the day before the call and said the company expected TESS revenue to exceed 400 million euros. These figures reflect continued vehicle deliveries under the program, with new units added to related announcements. However, the group also ties its defense growth forecast to other programs, including special modernization and Eurofighter, and does not place TESS alone at the forefront of growth drivers. Eurofighter revenue was about 200 million euros in the first nine months, and Indra expects it to exceed 280 million euros by year-end.
At group level, revenue rose 29% to 4,645 million euros in the first nine months compared with the same period a year earlier, while net profit increased 22% to 355 million euros. Revenue grew in every division over the period, with the sharpest increases in defense and space: defense grew 100% and space 372%. In the third quarter, group revenue rose 26% year on year, with defense growth of 95% and a 329% jump in space. The nine-month defense comparison comes amid an expansion in the vehicle business following the acquisition of TESS, which should be taken into account when reading the growth rate. Indra announced during the third quarter an agreement to acquire a 30% stake in cybersecurity company TRC and the entirety of defense company Dares Technology.
Alongside raising its defense forecast, Indra reaffirmed its 2026 group financial targets: revenue of more than 7,000 million euros, operating profit of more than 700 million euros and free cash flow of more than 375 million euros. This places defense growth within an annual plan the company has not revised following its nine-month results. Indra shares also rose about 2% in Thursday trading after the results announcement and the reaffirmation of its targets, according to Investing.com. In Spain, the National Statistics Institute had reported that seasonally and calendar-adjusted retail sales fell 1.4% year on year in September and declined 0.4% month on month, while employment in the sector rose 0.8% annually. Investors are awaiting the release on October 30 of the preliminary third-quarter gross domestic product estimate and the preliminary October consumer price index estimate.