Rheinmetall said full-year 2025 revenue rose 29% to 9.94 billion euros, while operating result climbed 33% to 1.84 billion euros, and the German defense group ended the year with a record 63.8 billion euros in backlog. The company also said it expects that backlog to more than double to 135 billion euros by the end of 2026.
The 2025 figures give a sharp view of where defense demand is landing right now. Rheinmetall is Germany's premier land systems and ammunition manufacturer, and its results landed as Europe keeps lifting military spending after years of pressure to move past the old 2% of GDP NATO target. At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, allies committed to raising defense investment to 5% of GDP annually by 2035, while European defense expenditure reached an estimated 2.1% of EU member states' GDP in 2025, up from 1.6% in 2023.
Rheinmetall guided for 2026 sales of 14 billion to 14.5 billion euros, implying growth of 40% to 45%. That pace is the kind of number that keeps drawing investors toward the European defense trade, especially as the company has returned 1,661% over five years. For readers comparing lmt stock with European names, the contrast is hard to miss: Lockheed Martin trades at 26x trailing earnings, is expected to grow revenue at about 5% annually, and posted a 5.98% decline in net income for the full year despite revenue growth.
Lockheed Martin also carries $21.7 billion in debt against $4.1 billion in cash, even as its stock has climbed 24.21% over the past year. Rheinmetall, by comparison, is pressing into a period of demand that appears set to run well beyond this year, with the order book already at a record and management calling for another surge in 2026. The unanswered question for investors is whether that growth path can keep outrunning the slower, steadier profile of larger U.S. contractors as NATO spending commitments move from pledge to procurement.
