OHB Shares Retreat 14% From Peak as Record Order Book Collides With €119 Million Cash Burn

OHB shares plummet 3.91% amid cash flow woes despite €3.35B order backlog; AGM on June 8 to address dilution risk from €1.2B bond authorization.

The euphoria that drove OHB's stock to a 52-week high of €685 on May 21 has given way to a sobering reality check. Friday's session on Xetra ended at €590.00, a decline of 3.91%, after a wildly volatile day that saw the shares swing between €545 and €645. The retreat comes even as the Bremen-based space and defence group posts a historic order backlog of €3.35 billion — a figure that underscores both the promise and the pressure of its current growth trajectory.

Just one day earlier, the stock had touched €659, powered by a string of positive catalysts. Chief among them was the announcement of KIRK, a joint venture with AI specialist Helsing focused on tactical space-based reconnaissance systems designed to slash the time between satellite imagery capture and military analysis. The venture cements defence as the company's primary growth engine. Meanwhile, OHB Sweden secured a €248 million contract for the EPS-Sterna microsatellite constellation, and OHB Italia was selected as prime contractor for the European Space Agency's Ramses mission to study asteroid Apophis. The combined wins propelled the order book to an all-time high.

Yet the first-quarter figures tell a more complicated story. Revenue climbed to €270.9 million from €229.3 million a year earlier, and EBIT rose to €15.2 million, with earnings per share of €0.52. Adjusted EBITDA improved to €27.3 million. But the cash flow statement jolted investors: operating cash flow came in at minus €112.5 million, while free cash flow slumped to minus €119.3 million. The high upfront costs of space and defence projects — a perennial industry challenge — are now testing the company's liquidity as it scales up operations. The massive order book offers long-term visibility but does little to ease short-term cash pressure.

Investors now face a binary narrative: robust operational growth on one side, deep cash outflows on the other. This tension is likely to keep the stock volatile. Technically, Friday's range of €545 to €645 defines the immediate trading zone, with the record high of €685 acting as the next resistance level.

Management will address these issues head-on at the annual general meeting on June 8, to be held virtually. The agenda includes a proposed dividend of €0.60 per share — yielding barely 0.1% at the current price — and the nomination of Dr. Theodor Weimer to the supervisory board, a signal of continuity. More consequential for shareholders is the proposed authorization to issue convertible and warrant bonds with a total nominal value of up to €1.2 billion, tied to conditional capital of roughly €3.84 million, or 20% of the current share capital. Such a move would create potential dilution that investors will want to monitor closely.

The following day, June 9, is the ex-dividend date. Separately, market reports indicate that management, together with major shareholder KKR and the Fuchs family, is exploring an increase in the free float to around 20% over the long term — a step that could improve liquidity for institutional investors. Analysts currently expect full-year 2026 earnings per share of €3.64, a figure that will require the company to successfully convert part of its record backlog into cash. The AGM will be an early test of whether management can reconcile its ambitious order pipeline with the immediate liquidity challenge.