Rheinmetall

€9.75 billion in 2024 revenue (up 36%), €1.48 billion operating profit (up 61%), and a €62.6 billion order backlog that reads like hyperphagia in industrial form. Rheinmetall isn't growing—it's gorging. Russia's invasion of Ukraine didn't create demand for artillery shells, armored vehicles, and air defense systems; it revealed catastrophic underinvestment across NATO arsenals and triggered the fastest defense industry expansion since the Cold War. Weapon and Ammunition revenue surged 58% to €2.78 billion with 28.4% operating margins. Vehicle Systems climbed 45% to €3.79 billion. This is opportunistic feeding on geopolitical phase transition, and Rheinmetall positioned itself as primary beneficiary through rapid capacity expansion while competitors hesitated.

The biological playbook is invasive species radiation: identify resource abundance (depleted munitions stocks), remove constraints (secure €8 billion in capital for acquisitions and capacity expansion), reproduce rapidly (factories in Germany producing 700,000 155mm shells annually by 2025, up from 200,000), and establish before competitors respond. Rheinmetall is opening production facilities in Ukraine itself—imagine a tick setting up permanent residence on its host. The €950 million acquisition of American Rheinmetall Vehicles positions the company for U.S. programs like the XM30 infantry fighting vehicle. Expansions in Romania, Lithuania, and Hungary create distributed production networks that benefit from local defense budgets while maintaining supply chain control.

CEO Armin Papperger's €40 billion revenue target by 2030 (4x current levels) isn't audacious—it's demographic projection. Current order backlog covers 6+ years at 2024 production rates. The constraint isn't demand; it's production capacity. Defense spending across NATO members is rising from ~1.5% to 2%+ of GDP, representing hundreds of billions in sustained expenditure. Rheinmetall's 15.5% projected operating margin for 2025 reflects pricing power in supply-constrained markets: customers paying premium for delivery certainty. The risk isn't competition (Rheinmetall describes itself as Ukraine's "most important defense industry partner")—it's Ukraine conflict resolution eliminating emergency procurement urgency before capacity expansion pays off. But even normalized European defense spending at 2% GDP sustains markets far larger than existed pre-2022. Rheinmetall identified the prey, struck before competitors mobilized, and now owns the niche.