China’s CATL reported third-quarter 2026 net profit attributable to shareholders of 21.25 billion yuan ($3.16 billion), up 14.54% year on year. Revenue climbed 58.58% to 165.22 billion yuan. Profit was 5.77% lower than in the second quarter, while adjusted net profit, excluding non-recurring gains and losses, increased 14.86% year on year to 18.86 billion yuan.
For the first nine months, net profit rose 31.60% to 64.53 billion yuan and revenue advanced 56.19% to 442.14 billion yuan. CATL linked revenue growth to business expansion, but costs grew faster: cost of sales was up 61.61% to 341.7 billion yuan. The resulting gross margin was 22.72%, compared with 25.31% a year earlier. Research and development spending reached 18.52 billion yuan, up 22.89%, while operating cash flow fell 23.60% to 61.63 billion yuan.
At September’s end, receivables totaled 112.91 billion yuan and inventories 144.77 billion yuan, increases of 47.78% and 53.15% respectively from year-end; CATL attributed both to expansion. The company remained the global battery-installation leader, with 333.0 GWh in the first eight months and a 39.4% share, ahead of BYD at 15.1%. In China, CATL had 40.92% of September power-battery installations, at 35.49 GWh.