Original-Research: q.beyond AG (von NuWays AG): BUY

Classification of NuWays AG to q.beyond AG

Company Name:	q.beyond AG
ISIN:	DE000A41YDG0
Reason for the research:	Update
Recommendation:	BUY
Target price:	EUR 5.10
Target price on sight of:	12 months
Last rating change:
Analyst:	Philipp Sennewald

Cutting into a weak year; chg. est., PT down

Yesterday, QBY reported a weak Q2 and cut its FY26 guidance significantly, with both events telling different stories. In detail:

Q2 sales were down 3% yoy to € 43.0m (eNuW: € 43.4m), as the weak MS segment offset the positive developments visible within Consulting. A split we expected, but not as pronounced as this. MS sales were down 7.7% to € 27.0m (eNuW: € 27.8m) impacted by the ongoing investment restraint in the German Mittelstand, which by now hurts on two fronts: new business is slow, but the heavier drag sits in the installed base. Here, renewals keep coming in at worse terms, which management does not see turning before FY27. Importantly, the volume is holding, visible in stable purchased services yoy despite the lower top-line. The account base is therefore intact, but the margin is set to be harder to win back as in the case of a volume shortfall. Consulting on the other hand stood out, growing 5.8% yoy to € 16.0m (eNuW: € 15.6m), carried by demand for S/4HANA migration support and AI implementation work, plus commissions out of the SAP business.

On margins, the headline is a misleading, as reported EBITDA of € 1.6m includes a € 0.9m restructuring provision, booked entirely into MS cost of sales. Adj. EBITDA hence was at € 2.5m (eNuW: € 2.1m reported), or a 5.8% margin but still down 10% yoy. Group gross profit was only slightly down at € 8.4m (eNuW: € 8.1m) despite carrying the charge, with the two segments moving hard in opposite directions: Consulting with 26% gross margin (+11pp yoy), MS down to 16% (-6pp yoy). Next to the one-off, MS margin suffered from neg. operating leverage. Consulting on the other hand delivered the strongest quarter in years thanks to better utilisation and a rising degree of AI-driven automation in delivery. Yet with high-margin SAP commissions of a low single-digit € m amount inside that number, 26% should not be read as the new base level, even if the trough in Consulting is clearly behind us.

Guidance cut. FY26 sales are now seen at € 176-180m (old: € 182-190m) and EBITDA at € 3-7m (old: € 10-16m), implying a negative net result and FCF this year. € 5-6m of the EBITDA cut relates to one-off transformation costs, i.e. € 8-13m ex one-offs. Note that the new sales range already includes GITG (c. € 3m for five months, eNuW), putting the organic range closer to € 173-177m. The remaining € 4-5m of one-offs are lay-off costs booked across Q3 and Q4 as around 70-80 employees (c. 10% of the German workforce). With the service-desk relocation to Romania, this should yield c. € 7m of annual savings from FY27 onwards.

Buyback ahead. With the six-month period following the capital reduction ending on 17 August, management reiterated that repurchases are planned from end of August. € 37m of net cash (excl. leasing) against an € 82m market cap leaves ample room. In our view the only non-operational catalyst in H2, and the strongest argument for sitting through a transition year.

Reiterate BUY with a new PT of € 5.10 (old: € 5.90) based on DCF. The cut is largely driven by MS, where the price concessions now sit in the base for the full contract term rather than reversing with the cycle, leaving the cost side as the only lever into FY27e.

You can download the research here: qbeyond-ag-2026-08-11-previewreview-en-40896
For additional information visit our website: https://www.nuways-ag.com/research

Contact for questions:
NuWays AG - Equity Research
Web: www.nuways-ag.com
Email: research@nuways-ag.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuwaysag
Adresse: Mittelweg 16-17, 20148 Hamburg, Germany
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