Kuehne + Nagel International AG: Kuehne+Nagel Q2 ‘26: 7% EBIT beat, guidance raised

Research evidence excerpt

Kuehne + Nagel International AG: Kuehne+Nagel Q2 ‘26: 7% EBIT beat, guidance raised

NSTEIN FLASHMAIL

23 July 2026

Alex Irving, CFA

+44 20 7676 7044

European Transport alex.irving@bernsteinsg.com

Kuehne + Nagel International AG Antoine Madre

+33 1 58 98 74 52

Rating antoine.madre@bernsteinsg.com

Market-Perform

Price Target

KNIN.SW 190.00 CHF

Kuehne+Nagel Q2 '26: 7% EBIT beat, guidance raised

Kuehne+Nagel’s Q2 recurring EBIT beat consensus expectations by 7%. This was driven by better cost control in Sea, and better

volumes and unit GP in Air. The company raised its 2026 guidance, now seeing recurring EBIT at CHF 1.35bn-1.55bn (up from CHF

1.25bn-1.4bn). Current consensus is in the low end of the range at CHF1.37bn (BERNe 1.44bn). The company is also starting to

quantify its opportunity from AI, targeting a CHF100m-150m annualized EBIT improvement by the end of 2027. We agree that AI

deployment has the ability to reduce cost at forwarders and that Kuehne+Nagel should be one of the winners; what is less clear at this

stage is how to hold onto these gains in the margin, rather than seeing them accrue mainly to customers.

EXPECTED CHANGE TO CONSENSUS EARNINGS

>-10% -7% -5% -3% No Change +3% +5% +7% >+10%

The numbers

• Sea Logistics: 9% EBIT beat on cost control. The company's largest division, Sea Logistics, saw volumes in line with consensus, falling

-1.4% YoY, a reasonable outcome in a difficult market, with a tough prior year comp (pre-liberation day) and an ongoing drag from Middle

East volumes. Unit gross profits were broadly stable QoQ on a reported basis. Once again the real improvement came from cost control:

total opex was essentially flat QoQ despite the seasonally stronger volume, leading to a conversion ratio of 29.2% (-1.4pt YoY) and a 9%