Hensoldt Doubles Half-Year Orders to EUR 2.81 Billion and Leonardo Lifts Its 2026 Guidance on a EUR 16 Billion Order Half
Taufkirchen and Rome, 31 July 2026
Key points
- Hensoldt booked half-year order intake of EUR 2,812 million against EUR 1,405 million a year earlier — double — and took its order backlog to a record EUR 10.356 billion
- Hensoldt revenue rose 23.6 per cent to EUR 1,167 million and adjusted EBITDA 28.5 per cent to EUR 137 million; the company confirmed rather than raised full-year guidance of around EUR 2,750 million revenue, a book-to-bill of 1.5x to 2.0x and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.5 to 19.0 per cent
- Leonardo reported new orders of EUR 16.3 billion, up 39 per cent on a like-for-like basis, revenues of EUR 10.0 billion, EBITA up 34 per cent to EUR 780 million and a backlog of EUR 58.6 billion
- Leonardo upgraded full-year guidance on orders — to about EUR 28.2 billion from EUR 26.2 billion — and on EBITA, to about EUR 2.21 billion from EUR 2.15 billion, while holding revenue guidance at about EUR 22.1 billion
Hensoldt doubled its half-year order intake and confirmed guidance on 31 July; Leonardo, reporting a day earlier, raised its guidance on orders, profit and cash while leaving its revenue target untouched at EUR 22.1 billion.
Both sets of numbers point the same way and stop at the same place. Hensoldt's intake doubled year on year and its backlog crossed ten billion euros, but the company confirmed its existing full-year revenue figure rather than lifting it, and told analysts that revenue growth is likely to slow in the second half as pass-through revenue eases and one-off benefits carried over from 2025 do not repeat. The shares fell on the day, on a record set of bookings.
Leonardo's asymmetry is written directly into the guidance table. Orders go up by two billion euros, EBITA by sixty million, free operating cash flow improves — and the revenue line stays at about EUR 22.1 billion, including nine months of IDV. The backlog grew 17 per cent year on year to EUR 58.6 billion.
Both companies raised everything except the line that measures delivery. Hensoldt confirmed a revenue figure its doubled intake would appear to justify and told analysts growth slows in the second half; Leonardo added two billion euros to order guidance and left revenue at about EUR 22.1 billion. Neither is being coy — both are describing a conversion limit rather than a demand one. Part of that limit is upstream: Mofcom put Rheinmetall and thirteen other EU entities on its export-control list in July, which prices the dual-use inputs these programmes convert with. Signal No. 114 covered both sets of results. Spring 2027 guidance is where a book-to-bill near 2.0x becomes revenue or stays a backlog.
Related · European defence half-year results, 2026
BAE Systems raises its 2026 guidance on a record GBP 84 billion backlog (2026)
