Defence Stock Renk Extends CEO’s Tenure as Share Price Cuts in Half

Defence supplier Renk sees shares plunge nearly 50% from October high, even as Q1 net profit jumps to €15.4m and CEO gets early contract extension

The Augsburg-based defence supplier is living a split-screen reality: record order books and surging profits on one side, a stock that has lost nearly half its value on the other. On Tuesday, Renk’s shares slumped to a new 52-week low of €44.80, extending a brutal seven-day sell-off that has wiped almost 20% off the market capitalisation. The slide comes despite a strong vote of confidence from the boardroom.

Renk’s supervisory board has handed chief executive Alexander Sagel an early five-year contract extension, locking him in as CEO until the end of March 2032. Sagel took the helm only in February 2025, but chairman Claus von Hermann said the premature renewal was designed to guarantee continuity as the company navigates a critical growth phase. Von Hermann highlighted Sagel’s success in securing delivery capacity after demand from the Bundeswehr, NATO and allied forces surged sharply.

The fundamental numbers certainly support the bullish narrative. Renk’s first-quarter net profit soared to €15.4m, up from less than €1m in the same period last year. Order intake jumped to €582m, and management is confident the full-year revenue will top €1.5bn, with operating profit expected to land between €255m and €285m. Analysts at Warburg Research reiterated a buy rating with a €63 price target on Tuesday, with analyst Christian Cohrs noting that the Q1 figures met expectations and put Renk on track to hit the upper end of its annual guidance.

Yet investors have shown little appetite for the stock. The shares fell around 3% on Tuesday to €44.96, a new 52-week trough that brings the decline from October’s high of €88.73 to roughly 49%. The relative strength index has climbed to 83.5, a level that typically signals intense selling pressure. Market observers attribute the rout partly to profit-taking after a prior rally that followed the Q1 release on 6 May, and partly to a broader retreat in the defence sector, with peers such as Rheinmetall also suffering recent losses.

From a chartist’s perspective, the breakdown of key support levels has added to the bearish momentum. If the price fails to hold above the current low around €45, technicians warn the next leg could target the €40 mark. The gap between the present share price and Warburg’s €63 target implies a theoretical upside of over 40%, but whether that potential is realised depends on Renk confirming its annual targets in the quarters ahead.