German arms major Rheinmetall reported significantly higher sales and operating profit in the second quarter on Wednesday, beating market expectations. Shares in the Dusseldorf-based firm gained around 3% in early morning trading. The company confirmed its financial guidance for the full year 2024. On a preliminary basis, second-quarter sales climbed around 49% from last year to €2.23 billion ($2.42 billion), and operating profit went up around 111% to €271 million. Both key figures are well above the market expectations of €2.06 billion for sales and €226.2 million for the operating profit. T…