Alarm bells are ringing at BioNTech! Billions at Hensoldt! Buying opportunity at North Arrow Minerals!

North Arrow Minerals: An Interesting Gold Gem

North Arrow Minerals is positioning itself as an attractive gold gem in the exploration sector. The Canadian company has strategically realigned itself and, following its past in the diamond sector, is now consistently focusing on gold exploration in Botswana. The stock is currently trading at CAD 0.30, giving the company a market capitalization of less than CAD 20 million.

The focus is on a large-scale project in southern Botswana covering approximately 724 km² along a little-explored section of the highly promising Kraaipan Greenstone Belt. A 60-km strike length belongs to the same greenstone belt as the Harmony Gold Kalgold open-pit mine, which contains millions of ounces of gold, located just about 40 km to the south. This underscores the significant exploration potential and the opportunity for comparable mineralized systems. At the same time, the project stands out for its logistical simplicity—the deposits are easily accessible and only a few hours from the capital, Gaborone.

Since large parts of the area are covered in sand, the team relies on modern exploration technologies such as high-resolution drone-based magnetic surveys and flexible RC drilling programs. Within just one year, over 20,000 linear km of geophysical data were collected, and nearly 5,000 m were drilled—the result: six clearly defined target areas with promising gold anomalies.

North Arrow has a strong management team. Led by CEO Eira Thomas and COO John Armstrong, the team has decades of experience in Botswana and southern Africa, including from their successful work at Goldcorp. This regional expertise is a crucial factor in successfully advancing projects in a geologically complex but mining-friendly environment. With an aggressive exploration program planned for 2026, North Arrow Minerals is poised for a potentially value-driving news flow. The latest update is already promising. Of particular note are the new surface samples from the first quarter. Of a total of 31 samples, approximately 40% returned gold grades above 0.5 g/t, including several high-grade hits. With samples of up to 5.44 g/t gold, mineralized zones have been extended. These results provide clear indications that the system is not only being confirmed but is also gradually expanding.

The drilling program is expected to continue yielding interesting results in the coming months. The first RC drilling phase at Target A was completed with 20 holes. The assay results are scheduled for release in the second quarter. Overall, it is evident that North Arrow is gradually uncovering the potential of a largely unexplored gold system.

Hensoldt: Strong Order Intake

Hensoldt's stock has outperformed those of its industry peers, Rheinmetall and RENK, so far this year. Yesterday, it became clear that there are indeed good reasons for this. The military electronics specialist reported solid growth in the first quarter, confirmed its full-year forecast, and impressed with strong order intake.

In the first quarter of 2026, Hensoldt increased revenue in its core business by 15% to EUR 496 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose by as much as 46.7% to EUR 44 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin improved from 7.6% to 8.9%.

Order intake showed strong growth. The defence technology company secured orders totalling EUR 1.48 billion in the first three months of the year. This was more than double the amount from the same period last year. The main drivers were orders to equip the Schakal and Puma platforms, as well as contract extensions for Eurofighter Mk1 radars. As a result, the total order backlog climbed by 41% to a new record of EUR 9.8 billion. The book-to-bill ratio rose from 1.8x to 3.0x.

Oliver Dörre, CEO of Hensoldt, explains: "The new German military strategy makes it clear in black and white that defence capabilities are being reimagined today—more networked, software-based, and at the same time with significantly higher demands on industrial availability. For us, this is not just a strategic signal but an increasingly concrete demand. Hensoldt's success is based on our ability to deliver cutting-edge technology at an industrial scale. We have aligned Hensoldt precisely with this scalability—and thus see ourselves in a strong position for the coming years."

Based on Q1 performance and the high order backlog, Hensoldt has confirmed its full-year forecast. Revenue is expected to rise to around EUR 2.75 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be between 18.5% and 19.0%.

BioNTech: Shock announcement causes consternation

Shock announcement at BioNTech. On Tuesday, the biotech company unexpectedly announced a massive cost-cutting program. As part of this, numerous locations are to be closed, including all of those at the recently acquired CureVac. At the CureVac site in Tübingen alone, all 700 jobs will be eliminated. In total, up to 1,860 positions are to be cut. Once the measures are fully implemented in 2029, potential recurring annual savings of around EUR 500 million could be achieved.

The media reaction was massive. Tübingen's mayor, Boris Palmer, responded with sharp criticism. "First buy, then kill—that is not how it works. The university city of Tübingen is ready for talks—but we also expect a willingness to take responsibility," said Palmer. CureVac founder Ingmar Hoerr even accuses BioNTech of deception. "I find it totally unfair. In my opinion, this is almost trickery, because we all acted in good faith, believing that the takeover was in CureVac's best interest and would result in a strong, united company," said Hoerr. "And that has now been thrown out the window. As a result, everyone has demonstrably been deceived. The takeover should never have taken place." However, it must have been clear to everyone at the time that BioNTech's main reason for acquiring the struggling CureVac was to settle the patent dispute.

The coming weeks are likely to be uncomfortable for BioNTech's management. The stock has reacted negatively to the quarterly results and site closures. Over the past two trading days, it fell by nearly 10% from EUR 85.40 to EUR 78.80. As a result, Germany's largest biotech company has lost over EUR 200 million in value.

North Arrow Minerals stock is at an attractive entry point thanks to an interesting repositioning. Positive news from the ongoing drilling program should draw more investors' attention to this gold gem. BioNTech has once again spooked investors following the surprising departure of its founders. This must not become a habit. Hopefully, the site closures are not an indication that research is not proceeding as hoped. Hensoldt's figures are convincing, though the defence sector currently lacks momentum.