Who profited from this summer's record-breaking heat, and who stands to gain in the future?

The extreme heat that swept across Europe this summer hurt some companies' businesses while helping others. Many will have to adapt, and this opens up new opportunities for investors.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), June of this year in Western Europe was the hottest on record in more than a century of observations (globally, it was second only to June 2024). In Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, temperatures set records, exceeding 40 degrees. “These are exactly the kinds of heat waves we expect in a changing climate,” said John Kennedy, head of the WMO’s Climate Information Division. “Europe is one of the continents where warming is occurring most rapidly, and the frequency of extreme temperatures has also increased.”

According to data compiled by AlphaSense, in recent weeks a record number of European companies with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more have mentioned extreme heat, drought, and wildfires during conference calls with analysts. More than 10% of companies have done so, notes the Financial Times. In the previous decade, the proportion of such companies rarely exceeded 2%; even in 2018—which was Europe’s previous record-breaking year in terms of temperature—this figure was below 5%.

Bloomberg reports similar figures. In European companies’ second-quarter earnings reports, the topics of heat, water shortages (in particular, low water levels in the Danube), and drought were mentioned a record 111 times. The previous high was in the fourth quarter of 2018—86 times.

“Adapting to climate change and building resilience to it is one of the most important investment themes of the next decade, but it is also the most difficult to understand,” Cathie Self, senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management, told Bloomberg.

Although company representatives and analysts disagree on whether this summer will mark the beginning of a series of recurring heat waves or remain an isolated event, some companies clearly have a good chance of profiting from adapting to global warming.

Magnum Ice Cream, the world’s largest ice cream manufacturer (brands include Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Cornetto, and others), went public on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in December 2025 after spinning off from Unilever. The company disappointed investors with its initial results (a 21.6% decline in operating profit last year), and by early summer, its shares—having recovered from a three-month decline—were trading at roughly the same price as at the time of the IPO. Then came a nearly uninterrupted rise, and over the summer, the stock price climbed by nearly 25%.

EBITDA for the first half of the year rose 3.2%, while organic sales increased 4.7%, exceeding analysts’ forecasts. However, they did note that sales growth slowed in the second quarter to 4.9% from 7% a year earlier, despite the early heat wave.

“Given the favorable weather conditions in Europe this summer, the results can be considered rather weak in terms of the market situation,” said Morningstar analyst Svetlana Menshchikova after the results were released on July 30. Nevertheless, the stock gained nearly 6% in August.

The extreme heat had a positive impact on sales of soft drinks and ice cream at Nestlé and beer at Carlsberg, the companies reported.N

It has also led to increased demand for products from companies that manufacture swimming pools, air conditioners, sunscreen, groundwater pumps, and electric generators, according to the FT.

In June, Groupe SEB, a French manufacturer of home and kitchen appliances, sold 30% more fans in Europe than it did a year earlier. That same month was the most successful in the history of the German company Beiersdorf (whose flagship brand is Nivea) in terms of sunscreen sales.

Spanish pool manufacturer Fluidra has described its products as “a safe haven in the face of climate change… offering long-term opportunities for the company.” Swedish company Beijer Ref is seeing the strongest growth in demand for refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in Central Europe, the United Kingdom, and France.

The British bakery and café chain Greggs, which last summer warned of a decline in profits due to a drop in sales caused by the heat, has launched a line of cold beverages this year, which, according to CEO Roizin Curry, has helped the company weather this summer’s even hotter weather.

Stefan Timmermann, CEO of the German pump manufacturer KSB, told analysts about a “surge” in orders from farmers who, due to the drought, needed to extract groundwater from greater depths. “This hot summer is likely not a one-off event, but the beginning of a new era,” he added.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence, extreme weather events will require global spending of more than $20 trillion on adaptation measures over the next decade.

This will be particularly beneficial for companies offering solutions for adapting and developing energy infrastructure, according to David Harrison, a fund manager at Rathbones Asset Management. Investors should pay attention to those who are providing the “picks and shovels” for this trend, Harrison noted, alluding to the gold rush era, when it wasn’t the prospectors who made the most money, but those who sold them their tools.

Companies such as Schneider Electric, ABB, and Siemens, as well as Alfa Laval and Wartsila, which offer solutions in the areas of backup power, microgrids, and cooling.

However, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence warn that the stocks of some of these companies have already shown strong growth—especially those that help cool data centers for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Schneider Electric’s stock has risen 25% this year, and its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has climbed to 30. At Munters Group, which supplies industrial cooling systems, the P/E ratio has reached 60.

The drought has created problems for farmers, transportation companies, and industrial enterprises that rely on waterways for the delivery of raw materials and finished products. Record-low water levels in the Danube and other rivers have hit shipping in Germany and the Netherlands particularly hard: barges have to carry less cargo to reduce their draft and make more trips.

The Bundesbank warned that “limited access to shipping routes on major rivers and a sharp rise in transportation costs will be serious obstacles to growth in industrial production and exports.”

Hydroelectric power companies have been hit hard. Germany’s EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg warned of a drop in profits of several million euros. However, companies with a diversified portfolio of power generation assets, alternative logistics solutions, and the ability to raise prices will benefit, according to Laura Cooper, global investment strategist at Nuveen.

Finding solutions to these problems opens up potential opportunities for companies and investors.

The German chemical company BASF has invested in ultra-shallow-draft tankers operated by Stolt-Nielsen, whose shares are traded in Oslo. Stolt-Nielsen could benefit if other companies also begin to demand such a service, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

BASF, Bayer, and a number of other companies are developing products to protect crops in harsh conditions, while Novonesis is developing an enzyme that stimulates root growth deeper into the soil, notes Self of Pictet.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor