German DAX Falls; Rheinmetall Tumbles on FY26 Outlook Downgrade

11:49 AM EST, 11/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Germany's blue-chip DAX index shed 0.41% at the end of Thursday's session, as investors assessed the fresh release of corporate earnings and trading updates alongside the latest domestic economic data. Rheinmetall (RHM.F) plunged to the bottom of the index, falling 15.58%, after cutting its full-year 2026 guidance due to delays in artillery ammunition testing and the German armed forces' Arminius project. The company now expects consolidated sales to come in at 13.2 billion euros, compared with the previous target range of between 13.7 billion euros and 14.2 billion euros. "While a strong Q3, clearly the focus is on the FY26 guide and the Boxer program delays. On the Boxer, we expect key questions will be: 1) the new view on timings, 2) potential scope reduction and 3) what this means for mid-term guidance. We are somewhat less worried about the new-revenue ramp delays (which we estimate at a [less than] EUR100m revenue impact) or quarterly artillery shipment delays (Q1-Q2 demonstrated this does happen, as has the prints by peers such as SAAB). This being said, we suspect bears will see this negatively as part of the ongoing 'new-tech vs old-tech' sector debate. Incremental to yesterday's release we are encouraged by the strong momentum in Air Defence, where we see Rheinmetall as having a leading short-range air defence product," RBC Capital Markets said in a quick take report. On the flip side, fellow defense technology company Hensoldt (HAG.F) was up 0.22% on Xetra, after upgrading its full-year 2026 guidance following a positive nine-month business performance. The company raised its revenue outlook to 2.80 billion euros from the previous goal of 2.75 billion euros. Meanwhile, Siemens (SIE.F) is sharpening its focus on industrial artificial intelligence by planning to separate from Siemens Healthineers (SHL.F) through a spinoff in 2027. The German medtech company will be rebranded as Healthineers and will carve out its in vitro diagnostics segment as an independent entity named Olyrian Diagnostics. The move coincides with Siemens Healthineers' fiscal 2026 results, which showed revenue rose 1.1% year over year to 23.63 billion euros, up 4% on a comparable basis. Siemens declined 1.23%, while Siemens Healthineers rose 0.69%. In economic news, Germany's new manufacturing orders rose 4.4% month over month in September, against a revised 10.1% drop in August and the expected 4.6% growth. Annually, factory orders were up 3.3%, compared with a revised 3.2% gain earlier. The uptick in factory orders was primarily fueled by a marked rise in the automotive sector. Meanwhile, the downturn in Germany's construction activity continued in October for the second straight month. According to S&P Global, the German Construction PMI Total Activity Index ticked down to 41.6 from 43.5 in September 2026, marking the lowest reading since March 2025. "The latest PMI figures continued to paint a negative picture of the health of the German construction sector, showing not only subdued activity and new orders, but also an intensification of cost pressures and more supply delays," S&P Global Market Intelligence Economics Associate Director Phil Smith said. "We're perhaps continuing to see some payback from the better performance seen in August, but the fact that expectations for the year ahead remain pessimistic highlights that problems run deeper, with high long-term interest rates and elevated building costs just two of the fundamental headwinds facing the sector."