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Goldman Sachs just flagged two European stocks it thinks can more than double. One is a UK clean energy firm that just got crushed. The other is a German defense giant already on a tear.
Ceres Power dropped more than 31% last month. Supply chain worries, questions about AI demand sustainability — the market got cold feet fast. But Goldman isn’t running. The bank sees the selloff as a buying opportunity, pointing to Ceres Power’s licensing model and its ties to data center growth as reasons to stay bullish. The 12-month price target implies a 168% gain from current levels. That’s not a typo. A hundred and sixty-eight percent.
Rheinmetall’s numbers are harder to ignore.
Rheinmetall’s Blowout Quarter and the 102% Target
The German defense contractor posted a 69% jump in revenue to 3.289 billion euros in its second quarter. Operating profit hit 562 million euros — well above the 470 million euros analysts had penciled in. Shares rose 15.1% in July alone after those results dropped. Goldman’s projected upside from here? Another 102%. Europe’s rearmament push isn’t slowing down, and Rheinmetall sits pretty much at the center of it. Investors will get more detail when the company releases its full first-half earnings breakdown, and that report will probably be the real test of whether Goldman’s optimism holds.
And it’s not just those two.
BT Group and DSV both land on Goldman’s radar with a forecasted 64% gain over the next 12 months. BT’s play is fiber — specifically, getting paid properly for the network it’s been building out. DSV is in the middle of digesting DB Schenker, the logistics giant it acquired, which is clearly weighing on sentiment. DSV shares fell 9.3% in July. Analysts seem unbothered. The integration is messy now, but the logic behind it is sound, at least per Goldman’s read.
ASML got added to Goldman’s European Conviction Directors’ Cut list with a 52% upside projection. The Dutch chip equipment maker sits at a unique spot in the semiconductor value chain — it’s basically unavoidable if you’re building advanced chips, regardless of which direction AI spending swings. Revenue should hold up across different chip investment scenarios, Goldman thinks, because ASML’s product positioning is broad enough to benefit either way.
The Stoxx 600 and a Bumpy Semiconductor Ride
The broader backdrop is worth keeping in mind. The Stoxx 600 hit a record high, closing up 0.7% at 656.86 points. Year-to-date, the index is up about 10% in 2026. UBS recently lifted its year-end target to 690 points, which would mean another 5% from those record levels. So European equities are in a decent place overall.
But not every corner of the market is clean. Semiconductor stocks had a wild first half. Soitec and AT&S both surged — 371% and 330% respectively at their peaks. Then they both fell more than 20% from their mid-June highs. Aixtron has seen similar pressure. The sector’s story is still intact longer-term, capital expenditure commitments haven’t dried up, but short-term volatility has been brutal for anyone who bought near the top.
That kind of sector divergence is kind of the whole point of what Goldman is doing here. It’s not a blanket call on European stocks. It’s a list of specific names where the bank thinks the market has either mispriced the risk or missed the upside entirely.
Clean Energy, Defense, Logistics — A Wide Net
Ceres Power’s drop is a good example. Clean energy developers have faced a rough stretch as investors second-guess the pace of the energy transition and fret about input costs. But Ceres doesn’t manufacture at scale — it licenses its technology. That’s a different risk profile than a traditional manufacturer, and Goldman seems to think the market hasn’t fully priced that in. The data center angle adds another layer. AI infrastructure needs power, lots of it, and companies with credible clean energy solutions are getting a second look from investors who’d written them off.
DSV’s integration of DB Schenker is probably the murkiest situation on the list. Logistics integrations are hard, slow, and expensive. The 9.3% July drop tells you the market isn’t fully buying the story yet. Goldman is essentially saying: be patient.
Rheinmetall’s detailed first-half results are the next big catalyst to watch. The quarterly numbers already beat. The question is whether the full picture backs up a 102% upside call.
Revenue came in at 3.289 billion euros. Operating profit at 562 million euros.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which European stock does Goldman Sachs see rising the most?
Goldman Sachs projects Ceres Power, a UK-based clean energy developer, rising 168% over the next 12 months, making it the top upside call on the bank’s European list.
What were Rheinmetall’s second-quarter earnings results?
Rheinmetall reported a 69% revenue increase to 3.289 billion euros, with operating profit of 562 million euros, beating analyst expectations of 470 million euros.
