Between a Dividend and a Block Sale: OHB's Shares Drop 10% on a Day of Mixed Signals

For a company sitting on a record €3.35 billion order book and fresh from appointing its first-ever chief operating officer, OHB SE had a rude shock on Tuesday. The stock fell 9.57% to €378, with some data feeds showing a decline of nearly 10% to €377. The sell-off came on the ex-dividend date, when the shares went ex a €0.60 payout approved at yesterday’s annual general meeting. But the dividend alone doesn't explain the scale of the drop.

Far more pressing is the overhang from private equity backer KKR. The fund holds around 29% of OHB and intends to place roughly 20 percentage points of that stake in a block trade expected to raise more than €1 billion. Completion is targeted before June 30, 2026. Until that block is absorbed, the market faces a huge supply overhang. Once placed, the free float would jump from its current cramped 6% to about 26%, injecting much-needed liquidity into a stock that has seen extreme volatility this year.

The share price has plummeted roughly 45% from its all-time high of €688, set as recently as May 2026. Yet even after Tuesday’s drubbing, the stock remains up somewhere between 210% and 211% year-to-date, depending on the data source — a gain that underscores just how wild the ride has been.

Operationally, the Bremen-based space group is firing on all cylinders. The order backlog hit a record €3.35 billion at the end of the first quarter, a 45% jump from the prior year. To scale up production for the expected flood of defense contracts, OHB has hired Dr. Luis Alejandro Orellano as its first chief operating officer. The aerospace engineer, who joins on July 1 from Rohde & Schwarz, brings experience from Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems, Daimler-Chrysler and Bombardier. His mandate is to industrialize serial manufacturing.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying OHB SE?

The AGM on June 8, dominated by the Fuchs family (which holds about two-thirds of the shares) and KKR, passed all resolutions with overwhelming majorities. One key decision: two new authorizations allowing management to issue convertible or warrant bonds and participation rights up to a total nominal value of €1.2 billion through 2031. That gives financial firepower but also introduces dilution risk.

Short-term catalysts are on the horizon. At the ILA Berlin air show starting June 10, OHB plans to unveil new mission contracts. A concrete project already underway is the RAMSES probe, being assembled by OHB Italia in Milan for a joint ESA-JAXA mission. The contract is worth around €81 million, with a launch scheduled for early 2028.

Perhaps the biggest wild card is the first flight of the RFA ONE rocket from subsidiary Rocket Factory Augsburg. The launch window opens on July 1, and seven satellites are booked for the maiden voyage. Management, however, is managing expectations: historically, most first flights of new launch systems have failed. A mishap would be statistically probable, but the group’s long-term financial targets — revenue of over €2.0 billion by 2028 with an operating margin of 11% — remain unaffected.

OHB SE at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.

Until KKR’s block trade is completed, the stock’s extreme price swings are likely to persist. A successful placement would bring more calm to a market that has been anything but stable for OHB shareholders.

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OHB SE Stock: New Analysis - 9 June

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