Eckert & Ziegler: A Pick-and-Shovel Play on Radiopharmaceuticals
Why Eckert & Ziegler could be one of the most overlooked compounders in Europe
Radioactive! Many probably think about the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 while others might think about the popular 2012 song from Imagine Dragons. I’d guess that few people are thinking about the critical technology quietly powering cutting-edge medicine and precision industry — radioisotopes.”
In 1992 Dr. Andreas Eckert (who led the company until 2023 and now leads the board and is the largest shareholder) and Jürgen Ziegler founded the BEBIG Isotopentechnik und Umweltdiagnostik GmbH out of a research institute. Initially focused on recycling radioactive materials, it evolved into a holding structure in 1997 and became Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG as a holding company for its specialized subsidiaries.
In 1999 the company got listed on the New Market in Frankfurt, went up over 300% in the dot com bubble, just to fall 93% until 2009. Following the GFC, E&Z developed decently until exploding again during Covid and becoming a ten-bagger in 3 years. Now the multiple has compressed from bubble territory.
Despite its volatile share price history, the fundamentals developed well and E&Z has been an active consolidator (43 subsidiaries and minority investments) in this specialized industry for over three decades. Let’s dive into this fascinating business!
What does E&Z actually do?
Today, E&Z’s business revolves around two core markets:
Radiometry is used to measure electromagnetic radiation, including visible light and calibrate radiation detectors. Many highly precise Instruments have radiation sensors i.e. in nuclear power plants and medical equipment that need to be calibrated. In the oil and gas industry it is used to inspect welds on pipelines and pressure vessels, just to name a few use-cases.
Nuclear Medicine uses radio isotopes to visualize organs, tumors or blood flows and uses radio therapies to treat cancer. A fast growing field with strong investment by big pharma.
Both of these fields are highly specialized and often require different radioactive elements with unique manufacturing, packaging, transportation and recycling methods. While industrial and medical are the core markets, E&Z sells into many different industries. This market has high barriers to entry as a result. Eckert & Ziegler is the market leader with the broadest portfolio of products and services (like recycling or contract manufacturing) all around radioactive products.
How large is the market?
It is tough to get a good size of the industry because it is fragmented into many different methods and elements. Let’s focus on the largest segment: Nuclear medicine. Grand view research estimates that it will grow at a 11% CAGR and might reach $30 billion in 2030. We can see that large pharma is investing aggressively into this market and this will continue in an effort to treat more forms of cancer.
Additionally, E&Z also has many different industries it supplies. At 300 million in revenue, E&Z is still a small company and has much more room to grow with the market. Since 2017, radiopharmaceuticals grew from 18.5 million euros to 115.3 million euros for E&Z, showing exponential growth and an accelerating adoption curve.
Why This Matters
Eckert & Ziegler isn’t just a pick-and-shovel play on nuclear medicine — it’s a vertically integrated, niche market leader in a field with soaring demand and sky-high barriers to entry.
In the premium section, we’ll cover:
Why E&Z has several durable competitive advantages
Why radioisotopes are such a lucrative business model
Why its management’s strategic choices — and capital allocation — set it apart
And how its broad ecosystem (43 subsidiaries and counting) creates sticky customer relationships
Tap in to get the full deep dive — this one could be an under-the-radar compounder for the next decade.
Need an example of my work? I recently made my deep dive into Ashtead Group free—so you can see exactly what to expect: Business model deep dive - Fundamentals and Valuation deep dive