Rheinmetall Swallows a Croatian Robotics Pioneer as a Slumping Stock Ponders the Next Reckoning
Published on 07/08/2026 at 14:09 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The DĂĽsseldorf-based defense heavyweight is placing a big bet on unmanned ground vehicles, but the move comes at a time when its share price is nursing deep wounds from a very different kind of battlefield. Rheinmetall has taken a controlling 51% stake in DOK-ING, a Croatian specialist in robotic systems for mine clearance, firefighting, and underground mining. The new entity, to be christened Rheinmetall Unmanned Vehicles d.o.o., will serve as a competence center for heavy autonomous vehicles in the NATO and EU member state.
DOK-ING was founded in 1991 and has delivered roughly 500 platforms to more than 40 countries, commanding over 80% of the global market for robotic mine-clearance machines. Its modular “Komodo” platform, capable of hybrid propulsion and payloads exceeding 8.5 tonnes, will form the core of the collaboration. Rheinmetall will contribute firepower, reconnaissance sensors, and logistics modules, while a second project dubbed “Wingman” envisions an unmanned, armed support system that can shadow main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles on reconnaissance and fire-support missions. Founder Vjekoslav Majeti? retains the remaining 49%, and no purchase price has been disclosed.
The acquisition is a long-range strategic play, yet it does little to address the immediate headwinds hammering the stock. Far more pressing is the fallout from the cancellation of the F126 frigate program, which threatens to carve as much as €300 million out of 2026 revenue. Rheinmetall reaffirmed its annual guidance in May 2026, but management is now reviewing whether that forecast can hold. The uncertainty over whether a single program can punch a hole in the numbers has replaced the earlier geopolitical euphoria that once lifted the shares to an all-time high of roughly €2,000 in October 2025.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Rheinmetall?
That euphoria has evaporated. In recent trading, the stock was seen at €1,069.80, a 4.17% single-day slide that brings the year-to-date loss to 33.20%. Another recent reading put the price at €1,116.40 with a year-to-date decline of 30.29%, underscoring the volatility. The 52-week high of €1,995.00 from September 2025 now lies 46.38% away, while the 52-week low of €902.50 from late June is only 18.54% distant. The shares trade below both the 50-day moving average of €1,182.85 and the 200-day moving average of €1,526.94. The 30-day annualized volatility stands at 69.48%, and the relative strength index of 48.8 suggests the market is searching for direction rather than signaling a clear overbought or oversold condition.
On the operational front, the picture remains robust in absolute terms. Rheinmetall grew first-quarter 2026 revenue by 8% to €1.9 billion, while operating profit jumped 17% to €224 million. The order backlog hit a record €73 billion, anchored by a €63.8 billion backlog at the end of December that underpinned the company’s full-year sales target of €14 billion to €14.5 billion. Yet those numbers, which in a normal environment would ignite a rally, are no longer enough. Investors have shifted their focus from headline order intake to execution reliability — a shift laid bare by the F126 setback.
The Croatian robotics deal is aimed at a different time horizon. It combines Rheinmetall’s tactical-vehicle expertise with DOK-ING’s autonomous capabilities, positioning the group for a future in which unmanned systems play a central role alongside manned platforms. But for now, the market’s attention is fixed on whether Rheinmetall can manage its existing projects without further surprises. The period of automatic, geopolitically driven gains is over, and the stock is priced for a reckoning that will be settled not by new contracts but by how dependably the company delivers on the ones it already holds.
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