+55.41%! Lithium battery third quarter report performance explosion

Under the surge in global energy storage demand, the lithium battery industry has seen a year-on-year recovery in both revenue and profit in the third quarter, with a larger increase compared to the previous year. According to statistics from Shanghai Securities Journal, as of 4 PM on October 30, a total of 89 companies in the battery industry (Shenwan industry classification) have disclosed their third-quarter reports, with total revenue for the first three quarters reaching 779.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.50%; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 68.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.86%. In the third quarter alone, the year-on-year increase in net profit attributable to shareholders reached 55.41%.

Looking at the main materials in the lithium battery industry, the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has rebounded by 113% from its low point earlier this year, standing out among the four major materials for lithium batteries. While the lithium battery industry is recovering, the industrialization process of solid-state batteries is also advancing rapidly, with frequent reports of technological breakthroughs, capacity construction, and equipment delivery, bringing the industrialization of solid-state batteries closer.

Energy Storage Leads Lithium Battery Demand Growth

As of October 30, there are 106 A-share companies in the Shenwan secondary industry classification "Battery." Excluding one fuel cell company, the remaining 105 companies are distributed across four major Shenwan tertiary classifications: lithium batteries, battery chemicals, lithium battery specialized equipment, storage batteries, and other batteries, essentially covering the entire battery industry chain except for lithium mining.

According to the reporter's statistics, as of 4 PM on October 30, 89 of the aforementioned companies have disclosed their third-quarter reports. The data shows that these 89 companies achieved a total operating revenue of 779.6 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year increase of 13.50%; they achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 68.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.86%. However, this profit indicator shows a significant leading effect, with a median growth rate of 7.39%. In the third quarter alone, revenue grew by 18.21% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 55.41% year-on-year.

Based on revenue rankings for the first three quarters, the latest "Top Ten Listed Companies in the Battery Industry" (excluding lithium mining) are CATL, EVE Energy, Xinwangda, Tianneng Battery, Zhongwei Co., Ltd., Guoxuan High-Tech, Hunan Youneng, Desay Battery, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy, and Camel Group.

Among them, CATL leads significantly, with revenue reaching 283.1 billion yuan in the first three quarters. The other nine companies have revenues ranging from 12 billion to 45 billion yuan, which combined do not match CATL's revenue. The industry's profits also show a prominent leading effect, with CATL's net profit attributable to shareholders for the first three quarters at 49.034 billion yuan, while the remaining 88 companies combined had a net profit attributable to shareholders of 19.16 billion yuan From the descriptions in the third-quarter reports of lithium battery companies and the performance briefing, the strong growth in global energy storage demand has become an important reason for the recovery of the lithium battery industry. An electric new energy analyst commented on social media: "A storage tsunami is coming, and the pull for lithium batteries will soon surpass that of electric vehicles."

CATL stated in its third-quarter earnings call that the energy storage business model is maturing, showing economic viability, and that domestic and international energy storage demand is experiencing rapid growth. The company's energy storage capacity is saturated, and it is accelerating its capacity expansion efforts. As capacity is gradually released, the company's domestic energy storage product shipments will improve.

Penghui Energy achieved a net profit of 203 million yuan attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 977.24%, reversing the loss situation of the first half of the year. Penghui Energy stated that the increase in operating income is mainly due to the industry's improvement, strong production and sales of the company's products, an increase in sales orders, and sales growth. The company's battery products are primarily energy storage batteries. On September 19, the company stated that its main energy storage product models, such as the 314Ah large storage cell production line and the 100Ah and 50Ah small storage cell production lines, are all at full production. Compared to the first half of the year, some of the company's energy storage cell products have seen price increases.

According to data from the National Energy Administration and third-party institutions, global lithium battery energy storage installations exceeded 170GWh in the first three quarters of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 68%, maintaining a rapid development momentum in the market.

CITIC Construction Investment's electric new energy research team published on October 26 that it has raised the domestic energy storage installation growth rate for next year to double, marking the beginning of a new cycle for lithium batteries. The bidding for energy storage is becoming more favorable, social capital investment is active, and improved economic viability has made many energy storage markets a "treasure trove" for investment. The team expects that with strong demand, the total demand for lithium batteries next year is expected to exceed 2700GWh, a year-on-year increase of over 30%, with potential shortages in multiple links.

Lithium Hexafluorophosphate "Stands Out"

Lithium hexafluorophosphate is the main raw material for electrolytes, which are one of the four main materials of lithium batteries. In terms of price, lithium hexafluorophosphate has rebounded from its low point earlier this year. According to data from Longzhong Information, the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has risen from 49,800 yuan/ton on July 18 to 106,300 yuan/ton on October 30, an increase of over 113% in less than four months, standing out among the four main materials of lithium batteries.

Under the rising prices, the performance of leading listed companies in lithium hexafluorophosphate has been impressive.

The third-quarter report of Dongfang Special Steel shows that the company achieved operating income of 2.4 billion yuan in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 5.18%; it achieved a net profit of 26.72 million yuan. In the first three quarters, the company achieved operating income of 6.729 billion yuan; it achieved a net profit of 78.0546 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 407.74%, significantly improving profitability compared to the same period last year.

In addition, Tianci Materials achieved operating income of 3.814 billion yuan in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 11.75%; it achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 153 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.53%. In the first three quarters, the company achieved operating income of 10.843 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.34%; it achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 421 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.33% Industry judgment indicates that the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate still has elasticity, with demand improving. During the third quarter earnings conference, Dofluorid stated that the company expects the market demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate to continue to improve in October, predicting a slowdown in growth by the end of the year, with prices trending upward next year. On the demand side, the market has a high certainty regarding the demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate, but the price fluctuation will tend to be rational, and will not see a repeat of the explosive growth seen in the last industry cycle, with manufacturers being cautious about capacity expansion.

Third-party research institutions summarize the current supply-demand relationship of lithium hexafluorophosphate as "substantial improvement in supply-demand relations." A report released by Longzhong Information on October 30 analyzed that the overall price of upstream raw material lithium carbonate is rising, providing strong support on the cost side, leading to a situation of supply not meeting demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate; at the same time, the demand for downstream electrolytes remains good, primarily based on order delivery, with recent improvements in the structural overcapacity issues in the industry, and concentrated order deliveries on the demand side, resulting in substantial improvement in the supply-demand relationship.

Intensive Catalysis of Solid-State Battery Industry Progress

As the core technological direction of the next generation of lithium batteries, solid-state batteries have broad application prospects in fields such as new energy vehicles, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robots. On October 30, Tsinghua University announced that recently, Professor Kang Feiyu, Professor He Yanbing, Associate Professor Lü Wei, and Assistant Professor Hou Tingzheng from Tsinghua University's Shenzhen International Graduate School collaborated with Professor Yang Quanhong's team from Tianjin University to conduct systematic research, developing a new type of plastic SEI (solid electrolyte interface film) that combines excellent mechanical properties, lithium-ion transport performance, and gradient lithium affinity/repulsion characteristics, significantly enhancing the cycling stability of solid-state batteries under high current density and low temperatures.

Previously, news of Chinese scientists successfully overcoming various "bottleneck" challenges in solid-state batteries has frequently emerged. Driven by strong technological breakthroughs, upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain have recently been active, comprehensively advancing from capacity layout, product iteration to equipment delivery, with the industrialization process of solid-state batteries entering an intensive catalysis period.

On October 29, Funeng Technology stated on an interactive platform that the research and industrialization progress of its all-solid-state batteries is proceeding smoothly, with the first generation of sulfide all-solid-state batteries with a capacity of 60Ah soon to be delivered to strategic customers, featuring an energy density of up to 400Wh/kg. "In terms of all-solid-state batteries, the company is following the previous plan to first establish the pilot production line, and then continuously upgrade products. According to the current pace, the company expects to launch the next generation of products in the fourth quarter," said Yiwei Lithium Energy during a conference call on October 24.

In addition, companies such as Penghui Energy, Guoxuan High-Tech, and CATL have successively disclosed their timelines for mass production of solid-state batteries, which are mainly expected to occur between 2026 and 2027.

To match the mass production rhythm of solid-state batteries in 2026 to 2027, material manufacturers are also actively preparing. On October 29, Ansheng Technology announced that it has signed an investment cooperation agreement to plan the construction of a production line for solid-state electrolyte materials with an annual output of 3,000 tons. Enjie Co., Ltd. stated that its high-purity lithium sulfide products for solid-state applications have completed small-scale testing and annual production capacity construction and operation, with the lithium sulfide pilot production line already established, and the solid-state electrolyte powder production line at the 10-ton level has been put into production, capable of shipping Tianci Materials, Putailai, and Dongfu Duo are also racing to advance the production line construction and customer certification of solid-state electrolytes.

The industrialization of solid-state batteries requires equipment to take the lead. Liyuanheng stated in its Q3 2025 performance briefing that the fully solid-state battery production line equipment provided to a leading automotive company has been delivered and is currently in the customer site debugging and process verification stages. This project represents an important breakthrough for the company in the field of solid-state battery equipment, and the company is currently working closely with the customer to advance subsequent tasks.

Article authors: Li Zijian, Wang Yuqing, Source: Shanghai Securities Journal, Original title: "+55.41%! Lithium Battery Q3 Report Performance Explosion"

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