Circus SE's Robotic Kitchen Ambitions Face a Crucial Delivery Test

The robotic chef company Circus SE is charting an aggressive growth path, but its share price tells a story of deep skepticism. Despite announcing a major production ramp-up, new military contracts, and a strategic acquisition, the stock fell 5.4% in a single session to trade around €8.93. This leaves the equity languishing roughly 60% below its 52-week high, a stark contrast to the bullish €46 price target maintained by analysts at mwb research.

Operational improvements are underway. The availability of its flagship CA-1 robotic kitchen has increased from 68% to 92%, while daily maintenance time per machine has dropped from 128 minutes to 90. Yet, the core challenge remains converting a substantial order book into revenue. Circus currently has over 550 units on order, with 17 systems already deployed at customer sites.

To meet this demand, the company is embarking on a dramatic production scale-up. Output is slated to surge from 8 units per month currently to 16 by summer, 32 by autumn, and finally 64 units per month by the fourth quarter of 2026. This represents a quadrupling from the 16 units produced monthly in Q1 2026. While this theoretical annual capacity nears 304 robots, mwb research offers a more conservative forecast of 205 deliveries for the full year. Manufacturing partner Celestica has the modular capacity for up to 6,000 units annually, providing long-term runway.

Concurrently, Circus is expanding its business through acquisition. On April 16, the company signed a binding agreement to acquire Belgian food robotics firm Alberts. Founded in 2015, Alberts has installations in six countries serving clients like Danone, Decathlon, and Sodexo. Its compact, one-square-meter systems target office lobbies and convenience stores, complementing Circus's portfolio. The all-share transaction is set to close by the end of Q2 2026, with the new shares subject to a 30-month lock-up period. Management expects a revenue contribution from Alberts within the current year.

The defense division, Circus Defence, is also gaining traction. On April 15, it deployed its AI robotics technology at a German Bundeswehr base ahead of schedule, marking its first active military customer. The unit has also won a tender with the Lithuanian armed forces on NATO's eastern flank, with integration set to begin later in 2026. Work for the Ukrainian military is already in progress.

Financing this expansion involves a new €1.7 million mini-bond, structured by the FINEXITY Group, which serves as a pilot for a framework of up to €50 million. For 2026, the company reaffirmed its revenue guidance of €44 to €55 million, with mwb research projecting €55.4 million at the top end. However, this ambitious target follows a 2025 base of just €250,000 in revenue and an operating loss of nearly €15 million. The bank forecasts a loss per share of €0.30 for 2026, turning positive only in 2027.

Since the start of the year, the share price has lost nearly a quarter of its value, despite recovering from a March low of €5.44. As Circus presents at the Invest Stuttgart conference, the central question for investors is not the scale of its ambition, but the speed and execution required to turn hundreds of pre-orders into tangible sales.

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