Rheinmetall cuts 2026 guidance again

Rheinmetall lowered its 2026 sales outlook to about 13.2 billion euros from 13.7-14.2 billion and its operating margin target to about 18.5% from 19%. It cited delays to the Arminius Boxer project and artillery ammunition acceptance testing, and the shares fell as much as 15-16%.

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Rheinmetall's second guidance cut since August shows that European defense order backlogs are converting to revenue more slowly than investors expected. The shares fell about 16% and are down roughly 35% year-to-date, after a strong multi-year run. RBC warned that the news could feed the 'new-tech vs old-tech' debate and weigh on traditional defense hardware names. Third-quarter results were strong, with sales up 32% and a 78 billion euro backlog, so the problem is timing and execution rather than demand. The risk is that sector sentiment turns on delivery bottlenecks in vehicles and ammunition, while investors favor newer defense technology.