A family-owned company from Bremen, 4,000 employees, and a CEO few would recognize on the street. Yet, without OHB, Europe would have a much harder time navigating, observing the Earth, or monitoring its environment from space. YTD the stock has soared 233%. This stratospheric increase stands in stark contrast to financial results that are far less spectacular.

Founded in Bremen in 1958, since 2000 OHB has been led by the same man, Marco Fuchs, whose family still holds approximately 65% of the group's capital. There are no giant rockets here, nor a CEO omnipresent on television sets either: just engineers knucling down and building the satellites that Europe can no longer do without.

When the European Union sought an independent navigation system from the US GPS, OHB provided the Galileo satellites. 34 units have already been delivered, representing about €1.3bn in contracts. The company also participates in the Copernicus climate monitoring program and supplies the German military with SARah reconnaissance satellites.

Up against giants like Airbus and Thales, which boast tens of billions in revenue, OHB plays in a different category. Its strength lies in its ability to design and assemble a complete satellite, from the initial sketch to launch: a rare competence in Europe. This expertise has even enabled it to secure the LISA contract in 2025, a space observatory tasked with tracking gravitational waves predicted by Einstein. Valued at €839m, it is the first major scientific mission entrusted to OHB by the European Space Agency.

Defense changes the scale for OHB

Then Russian tanks entered Ukraine, and OHB's narrative gradually changed track. Where the focus was once on positioning and Earth observation, OHB now speaks of sovereignty, European air defense, missile components, and spy satellites delivered to the German army. Defense, long a discreet part of OHB, has become an overt strategic pillar.

When the break with Russia deprived Europe of part of its launch capacity and revealed its dependency, budgets exploded. Berlin has promised €35bn for its military space programs by 2030. Brussels has earmarked €131bn for defense and space in its 2028-2034 budget.

This momentum boosted OHB's order book to a record €3.19bn at the end of 2025, equivalent to 30 months of activity. Its subsidiary MT Aerospace, which struggled for a long time, is now benefiting from the ramp-up of Ariane 6. OHB has also bought out the remaining capital to take total control of the unit.

Profitability has never followed suit

Even so, OHB has never truly managed to convert its full order books into profits. Over 5 years, its revenue has grown by just 7% p.a. to €1.2bn. Meanwhile, its operating margin has been volatile. It climbed to 10.6% in 2023, its best level, before collapsing suddenly the following year and then laboriously recovering to 5.9% in 2025, far from its peak.

This air pocket is due to the very nature of its business. OHB manufactures unique items under fixed-price contracts that are signed years in advance. A single delay or technical problem is enough for the margin to evaporate. In 2024, difficulties on several major programs, including the laborious commissioning of the SARah spy satellites, have caused profits to melt away to zero.

Cash flow, meanwhile, arrives in fits and starts because public clients pay in installments. Over the last five years, cash generated by operations was negative twice - in 2021 and 2023.

Paying for a theme

At the height of the year, the stock soared to €685 in May before falling back to around €412 the following month. It must be said that the expected IPO of SpaceX tomorrow has ignited the entire listed space sector in recent weeks, from American firms Rocket Lab and Planet Labs to the rare European space stocks.

The market values OHB for what it represents: an entry ticket to space and defense in Europe. The stock is already trading at over 110x 2026e earnings, whereas its compatriots Rheinmetall and Hensoldt are trading at 34x and 56x their profits respectively, while Thales, the French juggernaut, is trading at just 25x. Market mechanics amplify everything: between the Fuchs family, which still holds about 65% of the capital, and the American fund KKR, which entered at the end of 2024 with a 28.6% stake, only 5.68% of the capital is actually traded.

On such a narrow float, the slightest influx of buyers propels the price, and the slightest wave of selling sends it tumbling. Everything now rests on a promise: an 8% operating margin in 2026. If OHB succeeds, the valuation might be justified: otherwise, the fall will be as spectacular as the ascent.