Chemring Group – is it overlooked in the Space Race sector? Interims due shortly, shares now 475p against brokers Target Price of 620p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 20.05.2026

Having followed Chemring Group (LON:CHG) for decades, I have to say that I am somewhat surprised to see its shares lagging behind, as other less well-constructed quoted businesses go to significant premium ratings.

Based in Hampshire, the £1.29bn-capitalised group is a specialist manufacturing and technology business with unique market positions at the heart of national security, defence and aerospace sectors.

Has the market overlooked Chemring’s important participation in the growth of the global Space Sector?

The Business

The FTSE-250 employs some 2,700 people worldwide, and with production facilities in four countries, meeting the needs of its customers in more than fifty countries.

Chemring is a technology solutions company which operates through two segments: Sensors & Information and Countermeasures & Energetics.

Its Sensors & Information segment is engaged in providing consulting and technology services to solve security-critical issues.

This segment is also engaged in the development and manufacture of electronic countermeasures and biological threat detection equipment.

Its Countermeasures & Energetics segment is engaged in the development and manufacture of expendable countermeasures for air and sea platforms, cartridge/propellant-actuated devices, pyrotechnic devices for satellite launch and deployment, missile components, propellants, separation subsystems, actuators, and energetic materials.

Its customer base spans national defence organisations, security and law enforcement agencies, as well as commercial markets such as space and transport.

Chemring and Space

The group has current business and strong relationships with all three big Space providers – SpaceX, ULA and Blue Origin.

The bulk of its space-related business is on the launcher side rather than providing parts for payloads.

The payload is what the launch vehicle carries into space, such as satellites, Space Station Modules, landers, or rovers.  

Payloads are often bespoke items that take years to produce and test, whereas the launch platforms are predominantly designed to operate repeatable systems and parts.

While it provides some parts for payloads, Chemring Energetic Devices provides well over 100 different devices and energetic items that make launches possible.

As the industry continues to grow, so does CED’s business in Space.

It has a long history of working with NASA, going back to the Apollo missions.

In fact, some of its critical parts that are used today have origins that trace back to Apollo.

With its NASA Standard Initiator, CED remains the only NASA-qualified NSI manufacturer in the world.  

As a trusted supplier with a proven track record, it has good insight into the pipeline of requirements for the launch and payload providers.

The lead times on many of the systems and products used in space missions mean that orders often need to be placed 18-24 months ahead.

So, it takes real planning, great research and development, and consistent high quality to maintain strong relationships with its aerospace customers.  

AGM Update

On Friday, 20^th February this year, the group updated investors that its Order Book was up to £1,364m at the end of January and that the company was trading in line with expectations.

At that time, CEO Michael Ord stated that:

"Chemring is well positioned to benefit from rising defence spending across NATO and allied nations, evidenced by our record order book and a strong pipeline of opportunities, and we will continue to invest in our business to capture further growth.

For FY26 our outlook is unchanged."

The Equity

There are some 272.12m shares in issue.

The larger holders include Albion River Management (9.17%), BlackRock, Inc. (8.27%), Schroder Investment Management (6.27%), The Vanguard Group, Inc. (5.42%), Capital Research and Management Company (5.03%), Aberdeen Group Plc (4.47%), Royal London Asset Management (3.78%), Artisan Partners Limited Partnership (3.18%), Janus Henderson Group (2.91%), Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management (2.13%), UBS Asset Management AG (2.04%), Invesco Ltd. (2.01%), Legal & General Investment Management (1.68%),  AXA Investment Managers (1.59%), Columbia Management Investment Advisers (1.54%), Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss (1.41%), Dimensional Fund Advisors (1.34%), HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) (1.33%), Mirae Asset Global Investments (1.22%), Irenic Capital Management (1.15%), GWL Investment Management (1.15%), Canaccord Genuity Wealth (International) (0.99%), and Artemis Investment Management (0.99%).

Broker Views

Some six broking firms closely follow the group, four of whom call the shares as a Buy, one as a Hold and the sixth to Outperform.

The Highest Target Price is for 670p, the Lowest at 537p, the average is currently around 620p.

Estimates for the current year to end-October are for £545.35m in revenues, with pre-tax profits of £80.35m, earnings of 20.00p and paying a dividend of 8.25p per share.

For the coming year they see revenues of £626.45m, £98.30m profits, earnings of 24.94p

and a 9.97p dividend.

The year to end-October 2028 estimates suggest £700.60m revenues, with £114.72m profits, 29.89p earnings and a dividend of 11.54p per share.

My View

It is possibly well worth noting that the Space Sector is buzzing currently, with the mega-IPO of SpaceX expected within the next month.

The Chemring Group is one of the key suppliers to SpaceX.

Ahead of the group announcing its Interim Results to end-April, due within the next couple of weeks, I would suggest that the group’s shares look appealing at just 475p.

(Profile 20.06.19 @ 177p set a Target Price of 300p*)

(Profile 20.10.23 @ 278p set a Target Price of 350p*)

(Profile 04.12.25 @ 475p set a Target Price of 550p)