The war in the Middle East has once again put defense industry stocks in the spotlight. In terms of stock market history, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) is among the newest representatives of this segment. Last autumn, the German steel group ThyssenKrupp spun off its shipbuilding division. Since 20 October 2025, TKMS has been listed on the stock exchange as an independent company. The company’s roots go back 185 years. Today, TKMS describes itself as a leading system provider for submarines, surface vessels as well as maritime electronics and security technology. More than 9'100 employees work at the shipyards in Kiel, Wismar and Itajaí (Brazil). They have plenty to do. At the end of 2025, TKMS reported an order backlog of nearly EUR 19 billion. This means the order cushion has more than tripled compared with the level seen in 2020.
Further lucrative orders could soon be added. Canada intends to strengthen its navy with up to 12 new submarines. Besides TKMS, only the South Korean Hanwha Group remains in the race for this EUR 12 billion contract. “In India, TKMS has begun final negotiations together with its local partner for an order covering six submarines,” the company added in its latest report. In mid-February, TKMS presented its figures for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year (as of 30 September). In addition to the record order backlog, the group reported stable development in both revenue and operating profit (adjusted EBIT level). Looking at the full year, CEO Oliver Burkard raised the company’s guidance. He now expects revenue growth of 2% to 5% for 2025/26. Previously, the targeted range extended from a decline of 1% to an increase of 2%. The outlook for the EBIT margin remains unchanged at above 6%. For comparison: in the first three months of the financial year, the figure reached 4.8%.
“We continue to prioritize the positive development and processing of our business with a significant increase in profitability,” CFO Paul Glaser commented on the latest results. This aligns with the company’s medium-term objective: TKMS aims for an adjusted EBIT margin of more than 7%. In addition, revenues – starting from the 2024/25 period – are expected to grow by around 10% per year on average. Among investors, the interim report failed to spark major enthusiasm. Instead, the TKMS share price remained stuck in a short-term sideways movement. Since the mid-cap stock first traded in the three-digit range in January 2026, it has been hovering just below the round EUR 100 mark.
If this consolidation continues, softcallable barrier reverse convertibles could play to their strengths. Leonteq has launched two new variants on TKMS. In the product currency EUR, investors can count on a fixed coupon payment of 16% p.a. The CHF-denominated counterpart offers a quarterly payout equivalent to 14% p.a. The barrier is uniformly set at 59% of the initial level. As long as the underlying does not fall to or below this level, investors will receive the full nominal amount back at the end of the one-year term. If the barrier is breached, however, the partial protection expires. In that case, the investment would be exposed to the full price risk of TKMS.
TKMS is among the large universe of underlying assets for Leonteq’s leveraged products. The Zurich-based issuer offers Mini-Futures on the defense stock.
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