Lang & Schwarz: Strong Structured Products Can't Mask the Market Making Wound
Published on 07/16/2026 at 17:57 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Lang & Schwarz finds itself in an unusual tug-of-war between two opposing forces. While its structured products business is firing on all cylinders, the market making division — historically a profit engine — is being kneecapped by a technological shift at a key trading partner. The company's half-year numbers, released on Thursday, laid bare both sides of that equation, leaving investors to weigh a sharp recovery in one segment against an unresolved problem in the other.
Revenue from trading in structured products jumped to roughly €30 million in the first six months of 2026, up from about €20 million in the same period last year. The issuance side kept pace: Lang & Schwarz launched more than 75,000 new proprietary products, compared with roughly 45,000 a year earlier. Those are the kind of growth figures that typically draw applause, and the stock responded with a 2.47% gain to €15.32. But context matters. That closing price sits just 6.76% above the 52-week low of €14.35, set only a day earlier, and the shares have collapsed 44.49% in the past 30 days.
The source of that brutal slide is the market making arm, where a new technology platform at Trade Republic is disrupting operations. The previous exclusivity agreement with the retail broker has also expired. Lang & Schwarz acknowledged the impact but said it cannot yet quantify the damage — a hedge that does little to calm investor nerves. To counter the vulnerability, the company announced a shift to a multi-market-maker model, aiming to spread its dependence across multiple partners rather than one dominant platform. The transition is targeted for completion by the end of 2026, but during the interim period, the market making business remains under a cloud of uncertainty.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Lang & Schwarz?
The share's technical picture underscores the fragility. The Relative Strength Index sits at 13.5, deep in oversold territory, which likely fuelled Thursday's bounce. Yet the underlying driver of the sell-off — a structural threat to a core revenue stream — has not been resolved. The market appears to be pricing in a worst-case scenario, one that Lang & Schwarz management is trying to push back against by highlighting that the company's book value now exceeds its current market capitalisation. That statement, while accurate, has done little to arrest the downward momentum, suggesting investors are more focused on earnings power than balance sheet substance.
The coming months will test whether the multi-market-maker plan can be executed fast enough to plug the gap. In the meantime, the structured products division will have to carry the weight, and its strong performance offers a genuine buffer. But until the market making drag is fully quantified and addressed, the stock is likely to remain caught between a robust underlying business and a very real operational headache.
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