GEA's Full Second-Quarter Results Reinforce Margin Recovery Story

GEA Group's second-quarter earnings were prereleased earlier but the full results indicated a continued margin recovery including gross margin expansion. We maintain our EUR 35.00 fair value estimate and wide moat rating. Orders and revenue grew organically by 30.00% and 3.00%, respectively. The strong order growth relative to order execution within the quarter, led to a book/bill well above 1.00 times at 1.12, showing solid demand momentum. Demand also compared favorably with precoronavirus levels; first-half 2021 orders were up by 10.00% over first-half 2019.