This week's most read research: Equities – Europe’s top ten

Research evidence excerpt

This week's most read research: Equities – Europe’s top ten

19 June 2026

This week's most read research

Flight Deck

FCAS grounded, Options airborne

christophe.menard@db.com

Published on 15th June 2026

The effective abandonment of the FCAS Next Generation Fighter pillar marks a

material setback for European defence collaboration leaving France and Germany

facing divergent choices. France’s next step is likely to be a more nationally

controlled, Dassault-led sixth-generation pathway, using the Rafale F5 upgrade as

a technology bridge. This could produce a smaller, more affordable aircraft

architecture than the original FCAS concept, potentially improving exportability

and programme discipline, but it also raises a major funding question for Paris given

the scale of sovereign sixth-generation development. Germany, by contrast, must

decide whether to preserve industrial sovereignty through an Airbus-led European

alternative, potentially involving Saab/Sweden and Spain, or pivot toward the UK-

Italy-Japan GCAP, where Germany could bring funding and industrial scale at a time

when the UK also faces fiscal constraints. A Saab-linked option could offer

Germany a more agile, distributed and cost-conscious fighter concept, leveraging

Gripen experience while giving Airbus a systems-integration role in a more

balanced partnership.

Rathbones

Material downgrade; Cheap, but hard to see what stops it being cheap

david.mccann@db.com

Published on 17th June 2026

Following the recent unexpected "regulatory update" and associated profit

warning, we have updated our forecast and valuation assumptions. This results in

a material downgrade to our earnings estimates and target price. Rathbones as an

investment, was previously widely considered to be an emerging "self help" story