HENSOLDT AG, the Munich-headquartered European defence sensor specialist listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, reported a 33% rise in adjusted EBITDA to €281 million for the first nine months of 2026, alongside a record order backlog of €10,367 million. Revenue grew 21.3% to €1,863 million, driven by strong demand for air defence systems including TRML-4D radars. The company has refined its full-year 2026 guidance upwards across revenue, margin, and book-to-bill ratio, reflecting structural growth in European defence spending.

Key Points

  • HENSOLDT AG (0A5S), MDAX-listed German defence technology group headquartered in Taufkirchen near Munich
  • Nine-month adjusted EBITDA rose 33% to €281 million; order intake surged 76.7% to €3,564 million
  • Full-year 2026 revenue guidance raised to approximately €2,800 million; adjusted EBITDA margin target refined to approximately 19.0%
  • Investors may be watching the PEGASUS contract award timing and the Capital Markets Day scheduled for London on 10 November 2026

Record Order Backlog of €10,367 Million Driven by Eurofighter and Infantry Vehicle Programmes

HENSOLDT's order intake reached €3,564 million in the nine months to end-September 2026, a 76.7% increase on the €2,017 million recorded in the equivalent prior-year period. The company's order backlog climbed to a record €10,367 million, up from €7,096 million a year earlier. The announcement states that the largest contributors to order intake were the Eurofighter programme and orders for the Schakal wheeled infantry fighting vehicle and the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. The book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.9x, compared with 1.3x in the previous year, reflecting strong conversion of commercial activity into contracted revenue.

Optronics Segment Adjusted EBITDA More Than Triples as Revenue Grows 52.4%

HENSOLDT's Optronics segment delivered particularly pronounced growth, with order intake rising 252.7% to €1,157 million and revenue growing 52.4% to €354 million. The segment's adjusted EBITDA rose to €45 million from €12 million in the prior-year period, with the adjusted EBITDA margin improving to 12.6% from 5.1%. The Sensors segment also expanded, with revenue up 15.5% to €1,522 million and adjusted EBITDA rising 18.5% to €236 million. The Sensors segment order backlog reached a record €7.4 billion, underpinned by TRML-4D radar deliveries and a growing service business across air defence applications.

HENSOLDT Refines Full-Year 2026 Revenue Forecast to Around €2,800 Million

Based on nine-month performance, HENSOLDT has raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to approximately €2,800 million, up from the previous guidance of approximately €2,750 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin target has been refined to approximately 19.0% from a prior range of 18.5% to 19.0%. The book-to-bill ratio is now expected at the upper end of the 1.5x to 2.0x range, excluding any contribution from the PEGASUS contract, which may not be awarded until early 2027. The company confirmed targets for net leverage of approximately 1.5x and a dividend payout of 30% to 40% of adjusted net income remain unchanged.

HENSOLDT's Neo-Systems House Strategy and Capacity Investment Underpin Medium-Term Targets

HENSOLDT, which employed approximately 10,000 staff and recorded a full-year 2025 turnover of €2.46 billion, is pursuing a strategic transformation from a sensor solutions provider towards what it describes as a neo-systems house focused on Software-Defined Defence. The announcement states that investments in additional production capacity are enabling higher delivery volumes. Adjusted free cash flow remained negative at -€104 million for the nine months, an improvement from -€119 million, with the company noting that defence sector cash flows are typically concentrated in the fourth quarter. Preliminary full-year 2026 results are expected on 24 February 2027.