Thyssenkrupp's Data-Center Steel Bet Meets a Breakup Deadline

Thyssenkrupp ends its 2025/2026 year with steel separation and TK Accelis spin-off plans, as AI data centers add a new source of steel demand.

Thyssenkrupp is heading into the final stretch of a fiscal year defined less by its blast furnaces than by its balance sheet engineering. With the 2025/2026 reporting period closing on Wednesday, management is simultaneously preparing to set its steel division free and to float its materials trading arm — a twin separation that will test whether the conglomerate's sum is finally worth more than its parts.

The market has already cast an early vote. The stock added 1.9% on the day to EUR 15.25, leaving it up 64% since January and parked just shy of its latest 52-week high. That advance rests on more than restructuring headlines: analysts see the European steel price cycle bottoming out, and a new source of demand is quietly taking shape.

AI Infrastructure Emerges as a Steel Buyer

The global build-out of computing capacity for artificial intelligence is turning data centers into a measurable steel customer. By Thyssenkrupp's own calculations, a typical facility housing 10,000 server racks consumes roughly 1,000 tonnes of steel — a figure that can multiply to as much as 20,000 tonnes at the flagship sites operated by leading cloud providers.

That structural demand arrives at an opportune moment. Europe's steelmakers have spent months watching their traditional buyers in industry and construction struggle with a weak industrial cycle, so digital infrastructure offers a welcome supplementary outlet. On the cyclical side, Jefferies analyst Cole Hathorn continues to rate the shares a buy, arguing that customer destocking is now largely finished. He expects European steel prices to climb again after a autumn consolidation, lifting margins even without a broad demand recovery, and sees consensus forecasts for group operating profit in fiscal 2027 revising higher.

Energy costs remain a supporting pillar of that earnings picture. Because production still runs predominantly on coal, the group's exposure to electricity price swings stays contained — giving its conventional blast furnace operations a period of calculable expense.

TK Accelis Clears Its Final Hurdles

Further along is the separation of TK Accelis, the former Materials Services unit. Shareholders approved the move at an extraordinary general meeting on 7 August 2026, and the spin-off is due to be completed by the end of October 2026 through entry in the commercial register. A listing in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt stock exchange is planned immediately afterwards.

Under the terms approved, Thyssenkrupp will spin off 49% of the shares while retaining a 51% majority. Investors will receive one TK Accelis partnership share for every 20 Thyssenkrupp shares they hold. The business generated revenue of EUR 11.4 billion in fiscal 2024/2025 and is targeting annual top-line growth of more than 4% over the medium term, alongside an adjusted EBITDA margin of 4% to 5%.

Steel Division: Duisburg Investment and Specialty Grades

Inside the industrial transformation, the steel unit is pursuing large-scale projects such as a direct reduction plant in Duisburg while pushing into higher-value niches. At the Coiltech Italia trade fair, the steel subsidiary unveiled new electrical steel solutions for transformers and electric motors, aimed at capturing demand in technology-intensive segments. Over the first nine months, the division posted adjusted EBIT of EUR 373 million.

Group Guidance Holds Ahead of the Close

For the group as a whole, the year ending 30 September 2026 has been shaped by heavy one-off charges, and management reaffirmed its outlook. Adjusted EBIT is expected in a range of EUR 600 million to EUR 900 million, after the lower bound was previously raised from EUR 500 million. Free cash flow before M&A is projected at minus EUR 600 million to minus EUR 300 million, while the annual net loss is forecast at between EUR 700 million and EUR 400 million.

What comes next will show how quickly the promised value creation from the standalone units actually registers on the capital market.