ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM)

Price$29.99Cached quoteAs of 2026-10-10 20:47 UTC

AI: Fair-priced

Price checkThe market price looks fair because takeover upside is meaningful but approval risk is unusually high.

At the observed quote, the company’s stock-market value is about $3.4 billion. The agreed cash acquisition consideration is roughly 24% higher, while the stock also sits near seven times 2025 diluted earnings and about 0.85 times year-end book equity, meaning accounting assets minus liabilities. Those look inexpensive in isolation. However, the takeover still needs Israeli state approval, and the defense ministry has opposed the current structure. My inference is that the discount mainly reflects a real probability of deal failure, so the price is not clearly cheap enough to call undervalued.

Big pictureProfits and cash generation remain powerful in good markets, but earnings swing violently with freight rates.

The supplied financial history shows how extreme ZIM’s cycle can be: net income moved from $4.65 billion in 2021 to a $2.69 billion loss in 2023, then recovered to $2.15 billion in 2024 before falling to $482 million in 2025. Operating cash flow stayed positive, including $1.02 billion in 2023 and $2.30 billion in 2025. In the first half of 2026, revenue fell 13% and ZIM lost $22 million, although the second quarter improved. That makes a typical-year earnings estimate much harder to pin down than one-year multiples suggest.

Business strengthCash resources are solid and share issuance is limited, but lease-heavy obligations still complicate the balance sheet.

Year-end 2025 equity was $4.02 billion, while current assets of $2.63 billion exceeded current liabilities of $2.13 billion. The supplied history also shows $1.05 billion of cash and equivalents against $5.74 billion of total debt, much of the economic burden tied to vessel leases. By June 2026, ZIM reported a $2.53 billion total cash position and $2.77 billion of net debt including leases. Shares outstanding barely changed during 2025, limiting dilution, and the company continued large dividends rather than buybacks; merger terms now restrict special dividends.

What could change the storyThe thesis now depends mainly on merger approval and whether strong freight conditions persist into closing.

The merger is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026 and has shareholder approval, but Israeli state approval remains a closing condition. In July, the defense ministry said the proposed structure did not sufficiently protect national-security interests. Separately, management now expects 2026 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $2.0-$2.4 billion and adjusted operating profit of $0.7-$1.1 billion. A broader return to Suez routes could free shipping capacity and pressure freight rates. My inference: approval plus firm rates supports upside; rejection or rapid rate normalization creates downside.

AI: News

Second-quarter reboundSecond-quarter profit improved sharply, but first-half earnings still lagged and management expects a much stronger finish.

On August 19, ZIM reported second-quarter revenue of $1.78 billion, up 9% from a year earlier, and net income of $64 million versus $24 million. Free cash flow, meaning cash left after operations and capital spending under the company’s measure, was $386 million. Yet first-half net income was still a $22 million loss versus a $320 million profit a year earlier. Management guided to a much stronger second half. Shares finished about 3.8% lower that day, but timing alone does not prove the earnings release caused the decline.

Security objection to saleIsrael’s defense ministry opposed the proposed sale structure, raising the risk that the cash takeover does not close.

On July 6, Lloyd’s List reported that Israel’s defense ministry considered the proposed takeover structure insufficient to protect the country’s security interests; ZIM shares dipped more than 6% after the statement. ZIM said it continued working with authorities under the merger agreement. This matters because approval by the State of Israel, through its special state rights, is a required closing condition. The event therefore increased the probability that shareholders may not receive the agreed cash consideration, directly widening the gap between the market price and the deal value.

Cash takeover announcedHapag-Lloyd agreed to buy ZIM for cash, shifting the stock’s value toward whether the deal actually closes.

On February 16, Hapag-Lloyd agreed to acquire ZIM in a cash transaction valued at about $4.2 billion. Reuters reported that ZIM shares surged 50% after the announcement, while Hapag-Lloyd shares fell 8%. The structure also calls for an Israeli-controlled “New ZIM” with 16 vessels to preserve key national shipping links. Although the announcement is older than 90 days, it remains the dominant valuation event because the stock now trades primarily on whether the transaction closes and how much downside remains if it does not.

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Financial statements

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Revenue	$6.90B	$8.43B	$5.16B	$12.56B	$10.73B	$3.99B	$3.30B	$3.25B
Gross profit	$1.32B	$2.78B	−$2.21B	$6.43B	$6.07B	$865.0M	$263.0M	$148.1M
Gross margin	19.13%	33.04%	−42.76%	51.16%	56.54%	21.67%	7.97%	4.56%
Operating expenses	$304.9M	$256.7M	$303.4M	$291.0M	$250.2M	$143.0M	$110.0M	$171.3M
Operating income	$1.02B	$2.53B	−$2.51B	$6.14B	$5.82B	$722.0M	$153.0M	−$23.2M
Operating margin	14.72%	29.99%	−48.64%	48.85%	54.21%	18.09%	4.64%	−0.71%
EBITDA	$2.30B	$3.67B	−$1.04B	$7.53B	$6.60B	$1.04B	$398.5M	$88.4M
EBITDA margin	33.34%	43.55%	−20.13%	59.96%	61.48%	25.96%	12.08%	2.72%
Net income	$481.5M	$2.15B	−$2.69B	$4.63B	$4.65B	$524.2M	−$13.0M	−$119.9M
Net profit margin	6.97%	25.56%	−52.07%	36.85%	43.33%	13.13%	−0.40%	−3.69%
Basic EPSper basic share	$3.98	$17.84	-$22.42	$38.49	$40.31	$5.18	-$0.18	-$1.26
Diluted EPSper diluted share	$3.98	$17.82	-$22.42	$38.35	$39.02	$4.96	-$0.18	-$1.26

Review official source filings ↗

Owners

Reported shareholders

Reference date Jun 30, 2026

Reported holdings Number of shares

View holders

Top 20 reported holders of ZIM
Holder	Shares held
MEITAV INVESTMENT HOUSE LTD	5.48M
AMERICAN CENTURY COMPANIES INC	3.62M
BlackRock, Inc.	3.57M
Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.	3.31M
MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC	1.85M
MENORA MIVTACHIM HOLDINGS LTD.	1.66M
ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN L.P.	1.64M
CHARLES SCHWAB INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC	1.58M
Qube Research & Technologies Ltd	1.56M
STATE STREET CORP	1.49M
ODDO BHF ASSET MANAGEMENT SAS	1.15M
Allianz Asset Management GmbH	1.01M
ALPINE ASSOCIATES MANAGEMENT INC.	935.95K
Weiss Asset Management LP	787.8K
EQUITEC PROPRIETARY MARKETS, LLC	724.5K
CAUSEWAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC	694.47K
Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd	690K
Sagil Capital LLP	655.17K
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC	626.39K
AQR Arbitrage LLC	613.99K

Bars compare reported share counts. A matching total for this share class and reporting period is unavailable, so percentages are not shown.

Source: SEC Form 13F ↗Updated Sep 29, 2026 · Quarterly data

Insider buys & sells

Jul 1, 2024–Jun 30, 2026

Buys0$0.00 disclosed value

Sells (SEC code S)5$1.54M disclosed value

Transaction	Insider	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Owned after
Jun 12, 2026Form 4	Dotan SaarEVP Countries & Business Devel	SellOrdinary Shares	5.0K	$26.00	$130.0K	90.7K
Jun 12, 2026Form 4	Dotan SaarEVP Countries & Business Devel	SellOrdinary Shares	6.0K	$26.20	$157.2K	95.7K
Jun 4, 2026Form 4	Dotan SaarEVP Countries & Business Devel	SellOrdinary Shares	15.0K	$25.41	$381.1K	101.7K
Jun 2, 2026Form 4	Dotan SaarEVP Countries & Business Devel	SellOrdinary Shares	15.0K	$25.09	$376.4K	116.7K
Jun 1, 2026Form 4	Dotan SaarEVP Countries & Business Devel	SellOrdinary Shares	20.0K	$24.63	$492.6K	131.7K

Review ownership filings at SEC.gov ↗

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