Thales Stock And French Security Shares In Focus After Unrest

Violent protests across French cities have pushed security, surveillance and public-safety spending firmly into the spotlight, and markets are taking notice. Whenever social unrest spills onto the streets, capital often shifts toward businesses tied to protection, resilience and risk management. This piece explores how that theme plays out in France today and walks through three stocks exposed to this news that investors may want to keep on their watchlist.

The three stocks below are just a sample of what this theme touches, and the full screen surfaced 9 more French defence and security related companies with equally compelling narratives that are not covered here. To identify and analyze the highest conviction ideas in this space, head straight to the European Defence and Security Stocks screener.

Lumibird (ENXTPA:LBIRD)

Lumibird is a French laser specialist whose photonics and medical equipment can support defence, targeting, sensing and surveillance needs as well as scientific and industrial uses. It generates about €121 million from Photonic activities and €112 million from Medical devices, and the stock is valued at roughly €499 million.

Lumibird provides exposure to laser hardware that can sit inside defence and security systems, from rangefinders to LiDAR, rather than to frontline contractors. Forecast earnings growth and improving profitability are appealing. However, the high P/E and reliance on debt mean that a shift in funding conditions could have a significant impact.

That mix of promise and funding risk makes a fresh look at the DCF valuation analysis for Lumibird a smart way to see what the current price is really baking in.

Thales (ENXTPA:HO)

Thales anchors the European Defence and Security Stocks theme because its gear underpins everything from air defence and secure comms to cyber protection. This gives investors direct exposure to governments spending more on keeping people, borders and critical systems safe.

Thales is a defence and security heavyweight, generating about €13.3b from defence activities, €6.1b from aerospace and €3.9b from cyber and digital services, with the business valued at roughly €48.1b by the market.

Acceleration of defense spending in France and across Europe (for example, France raising its defense budget from €50 billion in 2025 to €64 billion by 2027, earlier than previously planned) is set to significantly boost order intake and revenue for Thales' defense segment, supporting multi-year revenue growth visibility.

What happens to Thales’ earnings power if a single assumption about how quickly cyber margins reset toward management’s targets breaks?

If that question is on your mind, go straight to the full narrative for Thales to see how Thales' defence momentum could decouple from those margin assumptions.

LACROIX Group (ENXTPA:LACR)

LACROIX Group designs electronic equipment and industrial IoT systems that can sit inside smart city, traffic and infrastructure monitoring networks linked to public safety. It generates about €309 million from LACROIX Electronics and €150 million from LACROIX Environment, with the stock valued at roughly €81 million.

LACROIX Group provides exposure to the nuts and bolts of smart infrastructure, from traffic control to water and grid monitoring that support safer cities. Forecast earnings growth and a low P/E are set against a highly leveraged balance sheet, so a shift in how that debt burden interacts with future contract margins could be significant.

As that leverage question hangs over LACROIX Group, step into the analysis report for LACROIX Group to see whether future contracts could outweigh the balance sheet drag.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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