CATL first-half revenue up 54.8% to 276.9 billion yuan; net profit 43.3 billion yuan; plans 20-40 billion yuan

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) reported first-half 2026 revenue of RMB276.92 billion, a 54.8% increase from a year earlier, with net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB43.28 billion, up 41.98% year-on-year, equivalent to a daily profit of about RMB240 million. Second-quarter revenue reached a record RMB147.79 billion. Operating cash flow for the half was RMB60.22 billion, exceeding net profit, and the company held cash and equivalents of RMB372.05 billion at period-end. Inventory stood at RMB130.82 billion, 38.39% higher than at the start of the year.

Power batteries remained the core business, generating revenue of RMB192.12 billion, up 46.02% and accounting for 69.38% of total revenue. Total battery system capacity was 525 GWh, with first-half output of 498 GWh and a capacity utilization rate of 94.86%. In the global market, CATL’s installed power battery capacity share in the first five months of 2026 reached 40.2%, up 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier, marking an eighth consecutive year as the world’s largest. Overseas market share rose 3.7 percentage points to 33.7%. In China’s passenger vehicle market, CATL held a 46.7% share by installed volume, up 5.6 percentage points, including a 75.2% share of ternary lithium batteries.

The energy storage business became a second growth driver, with first-half revenue jumping 87.5% to RMB53.26 billion, representing 19.2% of total revenue and approaching the full-year 2025 storage revenue. Battery recycling revenue climbed 67.2% to RMB18.81 billion, with a gross margin of 27.0%, the highest among the three segments.

CATL also announced a share buyback plan to purchase and cancel A-shares worth RMB20 billion to RMB40 billion, at a maximum price of RMB573 per share, a premium of nearly 50% over the closing price on the day of the announcement. At the ceiling price, the buyback would involve a maximum of about 69.81 million shares, or 1.5% of total share capital. It is the largest single buyback program in the history of China’s A-share market.

Regarding profitability, the overall gross margin for the half-year was 23.93%, down 1.1 percentage points from the first half of 2025. The power battery gross margin fell 1.78 percentage points to 20.63%, while the energy storage margin declined 1.56 percentage points to 23.96%. Management attributed the margin compression to rising raw material costs, noting that lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prices rose from RMB50,000 per tonne in January 2026 to over RMB60,000 per tonne in May, with the cost burden temporarily absorbed by the company. On a core operating profit basis, first-half core operating profit rose 70.1% to RMB45.38 billion, lifting the core operating margin from 14.91% in 2025 to 16.39%.

Net finance costs were minus RMB631 million, compared with minus RMB5.82 billion in the first half of 2025, mainly due to exchange-rate swings that resulted in a foreign-exchange loss, reducing profit by about RMB5.2 billion. Overseas business performed strongly, with first-half overseas revenue rising 42.35% to RMB87.13 billion, accounting for 31.46% of total revenue. The overseas gross margin was 29.97%, nearly 9 percentage points higher than the domestic margin of 21.16%. CATL has begun production at three overseas factories — in Hungary, the United States and Indonesia.