HENSOLDT orders jump 76.7% to €3.564 billion in nine months
Key Facts
HENSOLDT said on 5 November 2026 that order intake jumped 76.7% year on year to €3.564 billion in the first nine months of the year, compared with €2.017 billion in the same period of 2025. The company said large and sustained investment in defense capabilities in Germany and other European countries is supporting structural demand for its solutions, particularly air defense systems. The announcement came alongside results showing higher revenue and improved profitability, while the base of future orders expanded. Chief Executive Oliver Dörre said high structural defense spending in Germany and Europe "continues to fill our order books and is increasingly reflected in revenue".
The order backlog reached a record €10.367 billion, compared with €7.096 billion in the same period a year earlier. The book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.9 times from 1.3 times, reflecting that new orders during the period exceeded revenue at a faster pace than a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Christian Ladner said the record level gives the company planning certainty for expanding technology and capabilities. The accumulated orders give the company a substantial business base extending beyond sales achieved in the first nine months. The company links the continued build-up to defense spending in Germany and Europe.
Revenue increased 21.3% to €1.863 billion in the first nine months of 2026, from €1.536 billion a year earlier. The company said underlying business growth, excluding pass-through revenue, was 17.7%, with air defense among its main drivers. Sensors division revenue rose 15.5% to €1.52 billion, according to Reuters, partly driven by increased deliveries of TRML-4D radars used in the IRIS-T air defense system. HENSOLDT also said deliveries of air defense systems increased, particularly these radars. Revenue growth and expanded deliveries offer a picture of some accumulated demand translating into operating activity.
The company attributed the largest contributions to new orders to the Eurofighter program and the Schakal and Puma combat vehicles. On the delivery side, air defense systems and TRML-4D radars stood out among the products for which the company recorded an increase. Division results showed varying growth rates; Optronics revenue rose 52.4% to €354 million, according to Reuters. The division's adjusted EBITDA increased to €45 million from €12 million in the same period of 2025. These figures reflect the contributions of military orders and increased system deliveries to the company's performance during the period.
The company's adjusted EBITDA rose 33% to €281 million in the first nine months of 2026, compared with €211 million a year earlier, and its margin improved to 15.1% from 13.7%. In the third quarter alone, the margin was 20.6%, compared with 17.6% in the same quarter of 2025. The company said investment in technology and production capabilities increased during the period alongside business growth. Adjusted free cash flow improved to negative €104 million from negative €119 million, which the company attributed mainly to higher advance payments. In the third quarter, adjusted free cash flow was positive at €32 million.
Despite raising its forecasts, HENSOLDT shares fell about 6.5% to €76.14 on 5 November following the release of its nine-month results, according to Investing.com. The company raised its 2026 fiscal-year revenue estimate to around €2.8 billion from around €2.75 billion. It also set an expected adjusted EBITDA margin of around 19.0%, up from a range of 18.5% to 19.0%. The forecast revision follows growth in orders and revenue and an improved margin in the first nine months. According to the CFO, the record order backlog gives the company a basis for planning its investments in technology and capabilities.
The company scheduled its Capital Markets Day in London for 10 November 2026 and is expected to publish preliminary results for fiscal 2026 on 24 February 2027. The conference follows the announcement that it had raised its revenue and adjusted EBITDA margin forecasts for the year, while the preliminary results will provide a later opportunity to review full-year performance. The company had linked structural demand to investment in defense capabilities by Germany and other European countries, while its nine-month results showed growth in orders, revenue and air defense deliveries. The reported period indicators and full-year forecasts remain the main measures to watch in the company's upcoming announcements.