Silver is unstoppable! Defense stocks in demand! Steyr Motors, Deutz, and Silver North Resources in focus

Silver North Resources: Fully financed for two years

The price of silver has easily broken through the USD 100 per ounce mark. Yesterday, the precious metal was already trading above USD 108. Investors seem to be urgently seeking an alternative to gold as a crisis-proof investment – Bitcoin is currently out of the picture. In addition, silver is increasingly moving into the category of "critical raw material" because it is both a precious metal and an indispensable industrial material. Without silver, many key applications of electrification would only function to a limited extent, such as photovoltaics, power electronics, industrial contacts, sensor technology, and parts of the battery value chain. At the same time, supply is structurally less flexible because a large part of production comes as a by-product of mines for lead, zinc, or copper. Silver production cannot, therefore, be ramped up as quickly as desired, even if the price rises. It would be inaccurate to speak of a geological "shortage," but rather of a potential shortage in the physical market. This is especially true as more and more speculators are discovering the shiny metal for themselves.

Silver North Resources is currently demonstrating how to skillfully leverage the euphoria in the silver market to drive its operating business. The Company is active in two projects in Canada's famous Yukon region. The results of the 2025 drilling program at the flagship Haldane project in the Keno Hill district are eagerly awaited. Last year, the Veronica project in southern Yukon already impressed with rock samples showing high-grade silver mineralization with peak values of up to 2,860 g/t silver and an exceptional 76.8% lead.

Silver North intends to continue exploration at full speed on both projects this year. In order to start new drilling as early as possible in the spring and make the most of the season, the Company recently secured fresh capital. Investors appear to be convinced by the projects, as strong investor demand resulted in CAD 10.58 million being raised in a private placement instead of CAD 7 million. Silver North CEO Mark T. Brown emphasized that this successful round has financed all exploration and operating costs for the next two years. This should give the stock a boost again.

Steyr Motors: News from Asia drives share price

Steyr Motors shares appear to be back on track for success. After halving in value in the second half of 2025, the shares of the supplier of special engines for military and civilian applications are back on an upward trend.
In the past four weeks alone, they have risen by 18%.

Most recently, a new framework agreement caused joy among investors in the Austrian company. Steyr Motors has signed a 5-year framework agreement with its Asian partner Trysun and also established a joint venture. The framework agreement secures Steyr Motors a binding order volume of at least 750 additional engines by 2030. These engines will be produced at the Company's headquarters in Austria and exported from there to China. The joint venture will serve as a strategic platform for sales and production in China and will also serve neighboring Asian markets.

Steyr CEO Julian Cassutti commented: "The new five-year framework agreement gives us an exceptionally high degree of planning security thanks to a guaranteed minimum turnover and the export of our engines from Austria to China. In addition, the joint venture with Trysun gives us a reliable and technologically savvy partner at our side who shares our vision of quality, innovation, and sustainability. The expanded partnership is another milestone on our path to tapping into the Asian market in the long term and offering our customers tailor-made solutions locally. As announced in the half-year report, we are tapping into considerable upside potential of more than EUR 100 million in order value beyond the business plan communicated to date, without additional investment."

Deutz: Share price almost at all-time high

Deutz is also already stepping on the gas in the new year. The shares of the long-established engine manufacturer have already gained 28% in 2026 and are trading at just over EUR 11, almost at the same level as in 2007. At that time, they reached an all-time high of over EUR 12. To put this into context, at the beginning of 2025, the shares were trading at just EUR 4.

According to a report by "hartpunkt", Deutz continues to position itself firmly in the military business and is expanding its activities under the umbrella of Deutz Defense Systems GmbH. Its CEO, Marco Herre, describes an 800 kW power pack based on a V8 engine as the next technological highlight to "hartpunkt". The combination of engine and transmission is to be produced in collaboration with a leading global transmission manufacturer and presented at Eurosatory in Paris. The system is aimed at 8×8 wheeled vehicles and tracked vehicles, and is being pre-financed from the Company's own resources. This is a response to concrete market signals and demand. According to "hartpunkt," the Deutz portfolio of "robust" combustion engines currently ranges up to 600 kW.

Modernization and retrofitting are also important topics for Deutz. Deutz products already power wheeled armored vehicles and troop transporters in Ukraine. Some of these are still part of the inventories of former Warsaw Pact countries. According to Deutz, it currently supplies up to 1,000 engines per year to Ukraine. Deutz also sees potential in the re-engining of battle tanks. With an annual production of well over 100,000 engines at its plants in Cologne and Ulm, Deutz considers itself fundamentally capable of supplying military drive technology in industrial quantities. In an interview with "hartpunkt", Herre reaffirmed Deutz's target of reaching EUR 4 billion in revenue within five years, with around 10% expected to come from defense-related activities. The Company currently supports around 60 armed forces worldwide, including 14 from NATO countries. In the future, Deutz also plans to offer hybrid and electric drives for military purposes. To this end, it has acquired the Dutch e-drive specialist Urban Mobility Systems, among others.

Defense and silver have started the year strongly. As is so often the case, Silver North Resources shares are also falling following the capital increase. Investors should not be unsettled by this. The two projects promise exciting news flow in the current year. Steyr Motors is back on the radar of investors. The stock is exciting, but is likely to remain volatile. Deutz is valued quite ambitiously.