CATL releases 2026 interim report: net profit of 250 million yuan per day, interim dividend exceeds 6.4 billion yuan

Recently, CATL, a leading power battery company, released its semi-annual report for 2026, with impressive operating data attracting widespread market attention. This financial report not only demonstrates the company's strong profitability but also serves as an important sample for observing changes in the global new energy industry landscape and the effectiveness of the Chinese lithium battery industry's global expansion.

Financial report data shows, in the first half of 2026, CATL achieved operating revenue of 276.917 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 43.284 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42%. Breaking down the quarterly data, second-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders reached 22.546 billion yuan, translating to an average daily net profit of approximately 250 million yuan.

The core driver supporting sustained performance growth comes primarily from the continuous implementation of the global layout.

In the past six months, CATL's overseas shipment volume accounted for nearly half of its total shipments. From January to May, its overseas power battery market share reached 33.7%, meaning that for every three power batteries sold globally, one comes from CATL. It is worth noting that the increase in overseas market share was not achieved through low-price competition; the company's comprehensive gross profit margin for the first half of the year was 23.93%, with the gross profit margin of overseas business nearly 9 percentage points higher than that of domestic business, highlighting the high profitability of overseas operations.

Technological innovation and the expansion of the energy storage business have opened up long-term growth space for the company.

In the first half of the year, CATL successively launched multiple new products, including the third-generation Shenxing superfast charging battery, the Kirin condensed matter battery, and the world's first mass-produced sodium-ion energy storage system, continuously consolidating its technological barriers. The energy storage business became an important growth curve, with revenue of 53.261 billion yuan during the period, a significant year-on-year increase of 87.54%, accounting for 19.23% of total revenue. The company successively won energy storage system integration projects in Germany, Spain, and Australia, and simultaneously signed a domestic 60GWh sodium-ion energy storage strategic cooperation agreement. Its business boundary has extended from automotive power batteries to the field of global energy infrastructure construction.

Amidst the impressive performance, CATL launched a major shareholder return plan.

On July 24, the company announced a plan to repurchase shares with funds ranging from 20 billion to 40 billion yuan and cancel them all, setting a record for the largest single repurchase scale in A-share history; simultaneously, it launched an interim dividend scheme, distributing 14.11 yuan per 10 shares, with a total dividend of 6.493 billion yuan. The background of this capital operation is quite noteworthy: the company's capacity utilization rate reached 94.86%, maintaining a state of full-load production, with 764GWh of capacity under construction awaiting production. Ample cash flow supports both corporate expansion and shareholder returns, signaling management's confidence in the industry outlook and the company's long-term development.

CATL's development momentum is a microcosm of the collective global expansion of the domestic lithium battery industry.

Industry data shows that from January to June 2026, China's total lithium battery exports amounted to 48.7 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 43%; combined exports of power batteries and energy storage batteries reached 181.3GWh, a year-on-year increase of 42.5%, with export growth rates significantly higher than domestic production and sales growth rates. With demand in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia continuing to be released, overseas markets have become an important support for domestic battery companies to hedge against industry cyclical fluctuations.

Historic changes have taken place at the industry landscape level; in the first half of the year, the total overseas market share of Chinese battery companies exceeded 53%, surpassing Japanese and South Korean companies for the first time to claim the top spot in global supply. The industry's global expansion echelon is gradually taking shape: CATL maintains a lead in overseas share, BYD's overseas installation share is steadily rising, and second-tier battery companies such as EVE Energy, Gotion High-Tech, and CALB have seen their overseas shipment volumes double year-on-year.

Industry analysis points out that this round of global expansion by Chinese lithium battery companies is no longer limited to simple product exports but is promoting the coordinated development of technology export, brand building, and localized manufacturing. Against the backdrop of accelerating global energy transition and a complex and changing international trade environment, Chinese lithium battery companies represented by CATL rely on continuous technological iteration, stable product quality, and a global industrial layout to continuously consolidate the global discourse power of "Made in China" in the new energy track.

(Data in this article are sourced from company announcements and public industry information and do not constitute investment advice)