Rheinmetall's Italian Order Buzz Stays Unconfirmed as UBS Cuts Its Target
Published on 10/26/2026 at 09:21 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Rheinmetall shares closed Friday at EUR 1,014.60 — below the price targets set by both UBS and Bernstein Research — after a week in which reports of a major Italian army order went unconfirmed and a rival's air-defence system was named as an interim Bundeswehr stopgap.
The reported contracts, worth a combined EUR 3.7 billion, would go to Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles, the joint venture between Leonardo and Rheinmetall — not to Rheinmetall on its own. Reuters reported Friday, citing Italian newspaper MF, that the venture had won the two Italian army deals covering the A2CS infantry fighting vehicle programme and the new MBT main battle tank. Leonardo CEO Lorenzo Mariani did not confirm the report, and Rheinmetall declined to comment.
Media coverage of a possible tank order for the joint venture had already surfaced on Thursday, with one report putting the potential volume at EUR 3.7 billion. No confirmed order announcement from Rheinmetall accompanied any of it, and by Friday's close the speculation had done nothing to break the stock out of its recent range.
UBS Trims Target, Keeps Buy Rating
UBS lowered its price target for Rheinmetall on 20 October to EUR 1,360 from EUR 1,600, while leaving its "Buy" recommendation in place. The broker pointed to the capital markets day on 26 and 27 November 2026 in framing its valuation.
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Bernstein Research, in a note dated the same day, reaffirmed its "Outperform" rating with a EUR 1,200 target — changing neither its stance nor its number.
Skyranger Delays Open Door for Diehl Stopgap
On a separate procurement front, the Handelsblatt reported Thursday that the Bundeswehr intends to buy 48 GARMR drone-defence systems from Diehl as an interim solution, citing delays with Rheinmetall's Skyranger. The paper described the Diehl purchase explicitly as a stopgap, not a permanent replacement for the Rheinmetall system, and characterised the acquisition as a planned project.
Albacete Line Live, Credit Line Doubled
Rheinmetall, meanwhile, commissioned a new medium-calibre production facility at its Albacete site on 16 October. The company put the investment at roughly EUR 20 million, with annual capacity designed for about 1.2 million projectiles and some 1.8 million cartridge cases — figures that describe the plant's intended output rather than production already reported. The second source describes the same facility as having capacity for around three million munitions components a year.
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In a further balance-sheet move, Rheinmetall has doubled its syndicated credit line ahead of schedule, from EUR 750 million to EUR 1.5 billion.
Third-quarter results are due on 5 November, with order intake and the ammunition business flagged as the key items to watch.
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