Rheinmetall Writes the Cheques, Brokers Rewrite the Targets

Rheinmetall has now paid the full purchase price of EUR 138.03 million for assets of the Mangalia shipyard, according to insolvency administrator CITR on Tuesday. The buyer is Rheinmetall Real Estate Romania; the seller is the yard company itself. The payment closes the cash side of the transaction, though the strategic payoff — like much of Rheinmetall's recent order intake — sits years down the calendar.

That same gap between signed contracts and delivered revenue is what brokerages have been circling. Citi cut its price target on Friday to EUR 1,099 while keeping its "Buy" rating, citing reduced estimates for 2030 and its expectation that Rheinmetall will lower its medium-term guidance at the announced capital markets day. Bank of America had already moved on 9 November, downgrading the stock from "Buy" to "Neutral" and slashing its target from EUR 1,300 to EUR 900, pointing to slower expected growth in armoured vehicles and artillery ammunition, risks around acceptances and possible project delays.

Berenberg followed on Tuesday, trimming its target from EUR 1,020 to EUR 900 while leaving its "Hold" rating in place — a change to the mark, not the recommendation. Bernstein Research, by contrast, reaffirmed "Market-Perform" with a EUR 1,000 target on Friday, with analyst Adrien Rabier flagging possible delays or a smaller scope for the F127 project.

The shares slipped 0.8% on Friday to close at EUR 766.00, below every target the houses currently publish.

On the order front, Rheinmetall said on 9 November that Belgium had contracted 20 Skyranger-30 air-defence systems, logistics included, in a deal the company values in the mid-three-digit millions of euros. Deliveries are scheduled to begin at the end of 2028 — protection for Belgian territory and critical infrastructure that will not reach the customer for years. It is a second Belgian air-defence order for Rheinmetall, and one whose revenue lands well after the signature.