Why is Vestas Wind stock sliding today?

Vestas Wind stock is sliding 6.9% today after the company released its third-quarter 2026 interim report before the market opened, revealing a profit and revenue miss that rattled investors.

Net profit for the three months ended September 30 rose 6.3% to €323 million from €304 million a year earlier, but missed the analyst consensus of €380 million.

Revenue increased 6.3% to €5.68 billion yet fell short of the €6 billion estimate, while EBIT before special items climbed to €483 million, below expectations of €526 million.

Adjusted free cash flow fell sharply to €99 million from €508 million, reflecting lower operating cash flow and higher working capital requirements as offshore activity expanded. Order intake also declined to €4.1 billion, down from €4.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Additional operating costs at a European offshore wind project further weighed on results. On the positive side, service revenue came in at €1,019 million versus €892 million expected, though this bright spot was not enough to offset the broader miss.

Vestas narrowed its 2026 revenue outlook to €20.5 billion to €21.5 billion from €20 billion to €22 billion, while tightening its EBIT margin forecast to 7.5%–8.5% from 7%–9%. CEO Henrik Andersen stated the company remained on track to meet its full-year earnings expectations, noting that the narrower outlook reflected improved visibility.

The broader Danish market had already shown weakness heading into today’s session, with the OMX Copenhagen 20 having declined the prior day, and U.S. equity markets — while positive — provided no meaningful uplift for Copenhagen-listed shares.

The combination of a double earnings miss, a significant free cash flow contraction, and declining order intake proved too much for the market to absorb, even as the company delivered year-on-year profit growth and an all-time high earnings per share figure. With the stock now trading at 184.9 DKK — well below its 52-week high of 220.2 DKK — investors appear to be repricing execution risk tied to Vestas’s offshore expansion, which continues to generate cost overruns that dampen otherwise improving underlying profitability.