All-Time High for Gold, Volatility Rising! thyssenkrupp, AJN Resources, Airbus, and Lufthansa in Focus

AJN Resources – Gold in East Africa in the spotlight

Trouble surrounding US President Trump's tariff plans is driving 30-year US interest rates back toward the magic 5% mark. While many parts of the world are preoccupied with geological conflicts, gold and silver are creeping to new highs at USD 3,515 and USD 40.56, respectively. Gold is once again the focus of security-conscious investors, and buying pressure is increasing. Amid this environment, AJN Resources, a Canadian exploration company with more than 75 years of cumulative industry experience, has recently shifted its focus from lithium to gold. Under the leadership of internationally renowned geologist Klaus Eckhof, AJN is pursuing ambitious new goals in East Africa: With the Okote project in Ethiopia, in which the Company holds a 70% stake, AJN is securing access to a region that is increasingly becoming the focus of international capital flows. The project area is located only about 100 km from the country's most important gold mine, Lega Dembi. Geologists suspect that the trends found in the formation there can also be found at Okote.

AJN Resources has now begun due diligence on the Okote Gold project. To this end, the Canadians are deploying field teams to conduct ground surveys over a length of around 3 km, where only artisanal mining had previously taken place. In addition, a drilling campaign of at least 1,500 meters is being carried out in collaboration with Mining and Drill Systems of South Africa. Previous drilling by predecessor MIDROC had measured promising sections with gold grades between 3.2 and 8.7 grams per ton over several meters - results that now need to be confirmed by AJN. Based on this and new exploration data, the Company plans to prepare an initial resource estimate. To finance these activities, AJN has launched a tender offer for a private placement of up to CAD 500,000. Each subscribed share includes one share at CAD 0.12 and one full warrant exercisable at CAD 0.15 over four years - another opportunity to get in at the beginning of the investment curve. For those unable to subscribe directly, shares remain accessible on the stock market, where a current market capitalization of EUR 4 million suggests significant upside potential.

Thyssenkrupp – Marine division IPO fully on track

Thyssenkrupp shares have gained over 200% in the last 12 months. Now there is a noticeable consolidation at levels between EUR 8.70 and EUR 9.50. Is the party already over? The announced IPO of the TKMS marine division is important. According to sources at the Company's headquarters in Duisburg, the IPO remains fully on track and is scheduled to take place in mid-October 2025. Shareholders voted in favor of the spin-off at an extraordinary general meeting, meaning that 49% of TKMS shares will be tradable on the stock exchange in the future, while thyssenkrupp will retain a majority stake of 51%. For every 20 thyssenkrupp shares, shareholders will receive one new TKMS share in their securities account. The new subsidiary's business model ensures that the parent company will retain control of the naval division even if its stake declines. TKMS's order backlog now stands at over EUR 18 billion, driven primarily by high demand for submarines and surface vessels.

TKMS not only builds military submarines at its Kiel and Wismar sites, but will also build combat ships in the future, opening up enormous growth potential. The German government has also secured itself with a security agreement and a right of first refusal on larger share sales; in addition, the federal government will receive a seat on the TKMS supervisory board. CEO Miguel López sees the spin-off as a "step into a new era" and emphasizes the greater entrepreneurial freedom and the opportunity to respond specifically to the expansion and modernization of the defense industry. The IPO is intended to bring in fresh capital for expansion and strengthen resilience to global risks. Thanks to greater entrepreneurial dynamism, the IPO offers an attractive growth path for TKMS. Analysts on the LSEG platform are not quite as convinced about thyssenkrupp shares. They see the average 12-month potential limited to prices around EUR 9.62. To spark technical euphoria, the price would have to rise above the previous high of EUR 11.59 – which is rather unlikely at present!

Airbus and Lufthansa – Fully booked

Lufthansa and Airbus have enjoyed a close and strategic partnership for decades, characterized by continuous orders and fleet modernization. The airline of the Crane Group dominates as Airbus' largest customer, with 40 additional A220-300 regional jets ordered in 2023 alone, which are particularly efficient and low-emission. At the same time, Lufthansa is investing in emission-reducing long-haul aircraft. As part of an order, 60 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s are now firmly in the pipeline to drive forward modern flight operations. These latest acquisitions mark a milestone in the restructuring towards a sustainable, long-term aircraft fleet.

On the stock market, both shares are interesting from different perspectives. Lufthansa has repaid all government loans from the COVID-19 crisis and is moving towards pre-2019 levels of capacity utilization. With revenue of EUR 37.5 billion in 2024, the Frankfurt-based company achieved an after-tax profit of EUR 1.4 billion. Due to high adjustment costs, only a narrow profit is expected with projected revenues of EUR 39.8 billion. At a share price of EUR 7.78, Lufthansa's current P/E ratio is just 6.9. Nevertheless, only 4 of 22 analysts on the LSEG platform recommend the stock as a "Buy", and with an average price target of EUR 7.54, they are even below the current price. Airbus, on the other hand, is causing euphoria: revenue is expected to rise from EUR 69.2 billion in 2024 to over EUR 100 billion by 2028. The market is even paying P/E ratios in excess of 30 for the defense-driven business model. Both airlines have full order books, but Lufthansa's tourism-focused business is traditionally subject to higher volatility due to international conflicts and tightening household budgets—factors that could quickly pressure its current high booking volumes. In contrast, the current wave of rearmament will likely keep the Airbus Group at full capacity for some time to come.

The stock market currently has many influences to deal with. These include an unstable US policy with many uncertainties for inflation and interest rate trends. Whether all this is good for stocks in the long term remains to be seen. However, it is highly likely that high uncertainty will continue to drive precious metal prices. Thyssenkrupp, Airbus, and Lufthansa offer sectoral opportunities for timing specialists, but gold and silver are already becoming a long-term trend.