Rheinmetall Stock Falls After Losing Frigate Contract (F126)

Downward Trend Rheinmetall Shares Take a Hit After Frigate-Building Project Fails

2026-06-25 Source: dpa 1 min Reading Time

Now that hopes for a major contract for frigates (Type F126) have fallen through, the stock market is punishing Rheinmetall, which had previously been a high-flyer, according to dpa.

No launch! Rheinmetall had hoped to land a contract for six F126-class frigates as a maritime construction project. But the federal government has now put a stop to the whole thing. Rheinmetall’s stock price dropped a bit further. Meanwhile, TKMS is now celebrating a government contract...(Image: dpa) — No launch! Rheinmetall had hoped to land a contract for six F126-class frigates as a maritime construction project. But the federal government has now put a stop to the whole thing. Rheinmetall’s stock price dropped a bit further. Meanwhile, TKMS is now celebrating a government contract...
(Image: dpa)

As recently as this fall, a share of the Düsseldorf-based arms manufacturer was worth a good 2,300 U.S. dollars—about 20 times as much as before the start of the war in Ukraine. After that, however, the price gradually declined, and some financial experts wondered whether the defense contractor, with its overflowing order books in various sectors, might have overextended itself. Now, new news from the shipbuilding division (the Lürssen Marine division), which was acquired some time ago, has pushed the stock even lower.

Taxpayers Have Spent About 2.7 Billion for Nothing

According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, it is no longer proceeding with the construction of six frigates. The Dutch company Damen had been awarded this contract, but as the ministry put it, the project was literally a mess, and costs had skyrocketed. Rheinmetall had also strongly advocated for the project but now comes away empty-handed. There will be no compensation of any kind from the Dutch, even though the federal government has already poured 2.7 billion U.S. dollars into the project. Instead, the federal government now plans to purchase eight Meko A-200-class frigates—submarine hunters—from Thyssenkrupp subsidiary TKMS. While the TKMS stock price rose as a result, Rheinmetall’s stock temporarily lost about 20 percent of its value. It is now trading at only about 1,100 U.S. dollars per share, according to the report.

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