Thales reported full-year 2025 sales of €22.136 billion, up 8.8% organically, driven by sustained demand in defense, avionics, and space activities. The company said adjusted EBIT rose to €2.740 billion, raising its adjusted EBIT margin to 12.4%.
Order intake reached €25.264 billion, essentially matching 2024’s record level. The year-end order book climbed to €53.323 billion, which Thales described as providing “exceptional visibility” for the years ahead.
Defense remains the main growth engine
By segment, Thales said 2025 sales rose 11.5% to €12.234 billion in Defense and 8.0% to €5.910 billion in Aerospace. Cyber and Digital declined 4.3% to €3.852 billion.
Thales also reported Defense order intake of €15.128 billion, which it called a new record for the segment, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.24. The Defense order book ended 2025 at €41.6 billion, representing about 3.4 years of sales, according to the company.
The European defense and technology group reported record free operating cash flow of €2.577 billion, up 27% year on year. Net debt narrowed to €1.618 billion at year-end 2025, down from €3.044 billion a year earlier.
2026 guidance calls for further margin expansion
For 2026, Thales guided organic sales growth of 6% to 7%, implying sales of €23.3 billion to €23.6 billion, and an adjusted EBIT margin of 12.6% to 12.8%. The group also expects to continue growing its order backlog.
In its annual reporting, Thales said its 2025 business mix was 56% military and 44% civil. The group also disclosed export turnover of €1.014 billion with Dassault Aviation in 2025.
Thales’ 2025 performance comes as the group has been expanding its footprint across several high-profile aerospace and defense tracks, from the Dassault-Thales partnership to develop “controlled and supervised” AI for future crewed and uncrewed combat aircraft, to its plan to take full ownership of the Thales Raytheon Systems AMDC2 joint venture that supports NATO’s Air Command and Control System.
In the Space segment, the company has been part of discussions with Airbus and Leonardo on combining space activities into a new European “powerhouse” entity.
Thales’ results coincide with broader European defense industry growth, where heightened geopolitical instability and increased military spending have buoyed demand for advanced sensors, avionics and integrated electronic systems. Competitors such as Germany’s Hensoldt have also reported healthy backlogs and defense-driven order growth.