I was wondering what Stocks would be ideal to buy before the nuclear proliferation kicks off again. Germany , Poland and now even Baltics are seeking talks with France and UK over cooperation with either buying or developing their own nuclear deterance systems. What companies do you think will end up getting the contracts ?
I don't think there will be contracts to build the bomb for any public company, at least I hope not. That seems like something done by the state itself.
But I think the bigger question would be about the carrier system. Because tactical bombs you might strap under an eurofighter or on a Taurus missile, however I don't think Germany for example would have anything for long range strategic ones.
So maybe look for whichever company could develop a ballistic missile and/or build/modify submarines to serve as launch platforms, if those won't just be land based. In that case I'd also wonder if diesel powered submarines like Germany currently have are suitable or if you'd want nuclear powered ones to be able to operate independently for longer.
For submarines I assume the question is if those would be nuclear or diesel powered. If the former then that would probably be build by Naval group (which is majority owned by France and Thales has a stake in it) or if the latter Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (German, owned by thyssenkrupp), who are e.g. also building the dolphin class subs for Israel. From an investment perspective neither would be a good pureplay though and I have no idea if theyd even have capacities to build more.
Airplanes would probably just be eurofighters, right? The only reason Germany is buying f35 is because they are certified to carry us nukes, not because the eurofighters would be incapable of being adapted to do so. The issue is that as I understand it certification would require the transfer of designs to the US, which obviously Germany and others don't want. So if anything that would mean shorting lockheed, if one assumes orders would/could get canceled.
Carrier rockets might be the most interesting aspect. I guess we'd be looking at ballistic missiles, if we are talking strategic nukes? In Europe the one company that would have some experience in that field is ArianeGroup (joint venture of Airbus and Safran). But again from a stock perspective seems like too small of a part of those companies to invest based on it.
There might be some small supplies that would be involved in projects like these, were a project like that would make a big impact, but I'd imagine that this type of company wouldnt be listed.