Rheinmetall, Bayer, Avrupa Minerals: Stocks for Europe's independence in defense, pharmaceuticals, and raw materials!

Avrupa Minerals: Raw materials from Europe for Europe

Europe needs to become more independent not only in terms of defense, but also in terms of raw material supplies. There are more opportunities for this than one might think. In times of functioning global supply chains, Europe has simply sat back instead of using its own resources. With Avrupa Minerals, investors can benefit from the new raw materials boom in Europe. CEO Paul Kuhn describes the business model very impressively in a recent interview with Stockhouse. This is how risk is spread through a diversified portfolio. Avrupa invests early in geologically promising but still poorly defined projects. The focus is on copper and zinc. However, the company is also involved in precious metals.

Avrupa prefers to search in historic mining areas with known mineralization, infrastructure, and a mining-friendly environment, and uses its own expertise to select the best claims from a wide range of possibilities. Through mapping, geochemistry, geophysics, and initial drilling tests, the projects are then brought to a level where they become investable for larger investors. The company is particularly active in Finland and Portugal, but has also just provided an update on a gold project in Kosovo, for example.

In Finland, Avrupa is focusing on the central Pyhäsalmi district, which Kuhn describes as having been underestimated for decades. There, the company holds a package of seven satellite targets near the former Pyhäsalmi mine. The region is geologically attractive and has existing processing/logistics infrastructure that can lower the economic hurdle for a discovery. Kuhn's ambition is to find around 10 million tons of copper-zinc ore that could potentially fit into the regional value chain. In Portugal, Kuhn points to Sesmarias. There, Avrupa is developing a copper-zinc VMS discovery into a formal resource base. An initial NI 43-101 resource estimate (possibly also JORC-compliant) is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026. This would elevate Sesmarias to a quantifiable asset.

Incidentally, the company relies on an established network of partners for financing. The most recent private placement of CAD 570,000 will be used to upgrade projects to make them "partner-ready." A joint venture partner then comes in, finances the subsequent, expensive exploration phases, and typically receives 70% to 85% of the project in return. Avrupa retains minority interests in numerous projects and reduces individual project risks. This also means that shareholders are less diluted by capital increases, as is often the case with explorers. Over the past few years, around CAD 36 million has flowed into the projects via JV financing, compared to CAD 18 million from equity.

https://youtu.be/7iflDutsmTE?si=odgXgJ3b9AkW8Ej0

Rheinmetall: Expectations too high?

As Germany's largest defense contractor, Rheinmetall is a key player in Europe's defense. But at the end of last week, the Düsseldorf-based company's share price suddenly slumped significantly, falling below EUR 1,600. News of a disappointing analyst event made the rounds. According to this, the consensus estimates for the coming years could be too high. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, that very large billion-euro orders remain rare and, on the other hand, that the company is not progressing as quickly as expected in ramping up production. Defense is a very complex business. The acquisition of Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL) will increase the complexity even further. JPMorgan announced that consensus earnings expectations for 2030 could be 14% too high. However, the analysts also emphasized that Rheinmetall is still likely to see strong growth in revenue and profits in the coming years.

However, the uncertainty was followed by a strong signal from management. CEO Armin Papperger took advantage of prices below EUR 1,600 to buy Rheinmetall shares worth EUR 298,775. Supervisory Board member Marc Tüngler also took advantage of the price slide and bought shares worth around EUR 57,000. Papperger had already demonstrated good timing during the sell-off in April 2025. At that time, Rheinmetall shares had fallen below EUR 1,000 for a short period, only to double in value within a short time.

Bayer: The momentum monster

Bayer could also become more important again in the future for the supply of medicines in Europe. The Leverkusen-based company has been celebrating one success after another in the pharmaceutical sector since 2025. After the share price had already made a strong comeback in 2025, nearly doubling in value, it has been able to gain more than 20% in 2026.

Most recently, the results for Asundexian caused excitement on the stock market. This is an oral anticoagulant. The aim is to prevent dangerous blood clots and thus strokes. The latest tests showed a reduction in the number of recurrent strokes by a good 25%.

When taken daily, Asundexian significantly reduced the study's composite endpoint of cardiovascular death, heart attack (MI), or stroke, as well as the composite endpoint of death from any cause, heart attack, or stroke. Experts consider the results to be an important basis for the future growth potential of the active ingredient. The sales potential is currently estimated at over USD 1 billion per year.

Europe must catch up – in defense, raw materials, and pharmaceuticals. Avrupa Minerals is a still largely unknown raw materials player that investors can benefit from. Diversification across raw materials, projects, and countries reduces risks. At the same time, the partners are providing the bulk of the financing. This argues in favor of buying the stock. Rheinmetall's share price already reflects a great deal of optimism. Recently, there has been a lack of really large orders, and ramping up production is not so easy in this industry. Nevertheless, the stock remains a basic investment. Bayer is currently riding on news flow and momentum. This could continue to buoy the stock.