THEON's management proceeded with an update of its guidance for 2026 during yesterday's conference call with analysts, following the announcement of first-half results, raising the bar for its profitability.
At the same time, the company is accelerating the expansion of its footprint beyond night vision, having now expanded the market it addresses to approximately €8 billion through recent acquisitions and strategic partnerships, while it is now shifting its focus to integrating the new activities and leveraging the synergies being created.
The new guidance for 2026
As regards guidance, as the company's founder and CEO, Christian Hadjiminas, emphasized, THEON confidently maintains its guidance for 2026 revenues, with direction toward the €600 million target. At the same time, it updates its guidance for the profitability margin, estimating that the adjusted EBIT margin will be at least 26%, not only in 2026 but also in the medium term.
Mr. Hadjiminas clarified that THEON will continue to be conservative in its estimates, preferring to surprise markets positively rather than negatively. The increased confidence in the margin trajectory is based, according to him, among other things, on the company's operational efficiency and the synergies expected to arise from recent investments.
He also referred to the concern that had been expressed in previous years regarding whether THEON would be able to maintain its profitability margins as its revenues increase.
“It seems that once again we managed to overcome this skepticism and present results in which margins increase alongside revenues”, he stressed.
At the same time, THEON's founder and CEO underlined that these estimates reflect management's confidence both in THEON's operational momentum for 2026 and in its medium-term goal of evolving into a larger and more diversified global leader in the field of defense technology and specifically electro-optical systems.
“I hope that we have not only given you proof and confidence that we do what we say we will do, but that we have also made clear the growth opportunities that lie ahead of us in the coming years,” he noted.
By 2029, THEON is targeting €1 billion in revenues, through organic growth and targeted acquisitions. Over the medium term, it forecasts organic growth of more than 15% annually, an adjusted EBIT margin above 26%, CAPEX at around 4% of revenues, and a dividend distribution of 20%-30%. However, the company's management clarified that the target for organic growth above 15% does not include the acquisitions of HGH and Merio.
Strong first half and orders
It is noted that in the first half of 2026, which ended on June 30, THEON's revenues amounted to €248.7 million, recording an increase of 35.4% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA came to €70 million, up 42.2%.
Adjusted EBIT amounted to €65.1 million, marking an increase of 37.5%, with the corresponding margin strengthening to 26.2% from 25.8% a year earlier. New orders amounted to €232.5 million, up 38.5%, while the backlog stood at €1.46 billion.
According to THEON's founder and CEO, order activity is expected to be stronger in the second half of the year, with a stronger pace of new order intake in the fourth quarter, due to the sector's usual seasonality, while further acceleration is expected from the beginning of 2027 onward.
At the same time, THEON continues to broaden its product mix, with revenues from products outside night vision now accounting for approximately 15% of the total, a percentage expected to rise to around 19%-20% by the end of the year.
Mr. Hadjiminas stressed that THEON has expanded the market it addresses, which now amounts to approximately €8 billion, while at the same time it has strengthened its backlog and maintains high levels of profitability, creating, according to him, a strong base for the remainder of 2026 and the coming years.
Barrage of investments and acquisitions in the first half
In this direction, THEON's founder and CEO referred to the key strategic moves of the first half. In May, THEON announced the acquisition of 80% of Merio, accelerating its entry into unmanned systems and strengthening its presence in France.
The Business Development and R&D teams of the two companies have already identified potential commercial opportunities and technological synergies, while he placed the completion of the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2026.
At the same time, THEON made a $3 million minority investment in Twin Prime, accompanied by an agreement to create a joint venture focused on the development and commercial exploitation of specialized artificial intelligence solutions.
In June it also signed a memorandum of cooperation with Safran for the creation of a joint venture, in which it will control 51%, focused on the design and production of gimbals for UAVs, while part of the production is expected to take place in Greece. Mr. Hadjiminas stated that the joint venture aims to evolve into a global leader in gimbals by the end of 2027.
However, one of the most important developments that took place in the first half was the acquisition of HGH, THEON's largest investment to date, for approximately €300 million, through which the company is accelerating its entry into the market for counter-unmanned aircraft systems (counter-UAV). The transaction is expected to be completed at the beginning of the first quarter of 2027.
“HGH has approximately €40 million in revenues this year, possibly even more, and our ambitious goal is to double its sales. This gives us greater confidence that we can increase the profitability margin.
At the same time, in traditional products the margin is improving, as we significantly increase volumes, which absorbs a larger part of fixed costs and strengthens the profit margin”, commented Mr. Hadjiminas.
At the same time, he noted that THEON is planning the creation of an AI Center in Paris, within the framework of HGH, leveraging the area's specialized human capital.
The new strategic direction
After the intense investment activity of the first half, THEON is now shifting its focus to the successful integration of the new companies and the leveraging of synergies, while maintaining its emphasis on strong organic commercial growth.
As Mr. Hadjiminas explained, on the organic growth front, one of the biggest opportunities is identified in the US, where THEON has launched an investment program of approximately $30 million for the next two to three years.
The plan provides for the development of separate activities in Virginia for man-portable products and in Oregon for electro-optical platforms, with the investments including both the strengthening of production capacity and the hiring of executives in the areas of Product Development and Business Development.
As regards Exosens, THEON's founder and CEO made it clear that the company considers the stake it currently holds sufficient and that this specific strategic investment has now fulfilled its initial purpose. As a result, THEON has frozen the process for acquiring a seat on Exosens' Board of Directors, while it does not plan to further increase its participation, with interest now shifting to the further development of their cooperation.
Clarifying the reasons, he noted that the company no longer considers it necessary to increase its stake in Exosens, while the process of the required approvals in different jurisdictions would significantly burden management's time. However, he underlined that “THEON's relationship with Exosens is better than ever”.
At the financing level, THEON's CFO, Dimitris Parthenis, noted that the company has a €400 million five-year RCF, which had been secured in October 2025. As regards the new syndicated financing of €325 million, which THEON secured in September 2026, he clarified that it is also five-year and that it will be directed mainly to financing the acquisition of HGH.
With these specific financing lines, according to him, the company has no short-term need to raise additional capital to support its strategic planning.