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More shocking than CATL's performance is the provision of 76.1 billion "return" to shareholders -- dividend of 36.1 billion + buyback of 40 billion and cancellation.
On July 24, CATL released another outstanding half-year performance report.In the first half of 2026, CATL achieved operating revenue of 276.9 billion CNY,year-on-year increase of 54.8%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company 43.28 billion CNY, year-on-year increase of 42.0%; basic earnings per share 9.51 yuan, year-on-year increase of 37.4%. This performance basically reached the upper limit of market expectations.
What shocked the market even more is,the company simultaneously launched a huge A-share buyback cancellation plan of 20 billion to 40 billion yuan.For comparison, according to Wind data, approximately 700 listed companies in the A-share market implemented share buybacks in the first half of 2026, with a cumulative buyback amount of approximately 65 billion yuan. The scale of CATL's buyback is evident from this.
However, interestingly, on one hand, CATL is doing a large buyback in the A-share market; on the other hand, it is also conducting equity financing as high as 39.1 billion HKD in the HK market, and issuing low-cost green tech innovation bonds with a limit of 40 billion yuan.
The reason is also simple,conducting A-share shareholder returns with domestic cash to solidify domestic market reputation; obtaining overseas financing through the HK market and issuing low-interest bonds for domestic and overseas expansion. The two sums of money have two uses, perfectly balancing expansion and shareholder returns. In addition, A-share buybacks can also hedge the equity dilution brought by H-share placement.
01
Energy Storage Business Booms, Second Growth Pole Maturing
Looking at the income statement, what is most worth paying attention to at CATL is not the steady growth of power batteries, but the continuous boom of energy storage business.
In the first half, power battery system revenue was 192.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46%, gross margin 20.63%, a slight decline year-on-year but still healthy. But the real focus is on energy storage battery systems -- revenue reached 53.26 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 87.54%, the growth rate being almost twice that of power business. Energy storage revenue accounts for 19.2% of total revenue.
At the investor meeting, CATL disclosed more granular data:The combined sales volume of power and energy storage batteries in the first half increased by about 60% year-on-year, of which the proportion of energy storage battery sales has reached about 1/4, and the proportion of energy storage systems (not just cells) is close to 70%.
On the product level, 587Ah large capacity dedicated energy storage cells have achieved large-scale delivery, and the supporting 6.25MWh Tianheng energy storage systems and the world's first nearly 9MWh TENER Stack super-large capacity systems continue to mass-produce. The company also signed a 3-year, total scale of 60GWh sodium-ion battery energy storage strategic cooperation agreement with Hopewind.
02
Global Market Share Rises Against the Trend, Overseas Footprint Accelerates Expansion
Against the backdrop of trade tensions and complexifying geopolitics, CATL's global market share has risen instead of falling, which is truly rare.
According to SNE Research data, from January to May 2026, CATL's global power battery market share reached 40.2%, up 2.2 percentage points year-on-year, ranking first globally for nine consecutive years. In overseas markets (excluding China), the company's market share was 33.7%, up 3.7 percentage points year-on-year.
European market is an important incremental source.In the first half of 2026, new energy passenger car sales in Europe reached 2.351 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%, and penetration rate rose to 32.5%. CATL deeply supplies top overseas automakers such as Volkswagen, Stellantis, BMW, Volvo, Toyota, etc., and the Hungary factory and Spanish joint venture factory are steadily advancing, and localization delivery capabilities continue to enhance.
CATL also won bids for multiple energy storage system integration projects in countries such as Germany, Spain, Chile, Malaysia, and Australia, and overseas energy storage business is replicating the success path of power batteries.
Performance data shows,CATL's overseas revenue reached 87.1 billion yuan, accounting for 31.46% of revenue, a year-on-year increase of 42.35%.
03
High Potential Areas: AIDC and Sodium Batteries
If power and energy storage are CATL's "present", then AI Data Centers (AIDC) and sodium batteries are the "future".
Currently, global AI computing power demand is surging, and AIDC power guarantee and energy efficiency management have become a rigid demand. CATL has laid out AIDC full-scenario energy solutions, covering power generation side, medium voltage distribution side to inside the data center, which can address challenges such as compute-intensive and large load fluctuations.
It should be noted that AIDC demand is tied to global AI computing power investment, and currently this field is in an explosive phase. Company investor relations records also clearly state: "The rapid development of AI globally has driven requirements for AI-related infrastructure, such as AIDC, with huge future potential."CATL has entered a new trillion-level AI infrastructure track by selling batteries.
In addition, CATL's deeply deployed sodium batteries have already borne fruit. However, the market still focuses on the cost competitiveness of sodium batteries compared to lithium batteries. The company responded that after scaled production, sodium batteries have certain advantages in material costs compared to lithium iron phosphate batteries under current lithium carbonate prices, and possess differentiated characteristics such as wide temperature range adaptation, excellent low-temperature performance, and long life.Currently, the production line can achieve flexible lithium-sodium switching, and customers have sequentially signed contracts.
04
CATL Buyback History: From 2 Billion to 40 Billion
Another noteworthy point is CATL's 40 billion buyback cancellation this time. To understand this buyback, we need to first look at the market environment it is situated in.
Firstly, it needs to be stated that CATL's buyback at this point in time is not an isolated case.
According to Wind data statistics, in the first half of 2026, approximately 700 listed companies in the A-share market implemented share buybacks, with a cumulative buyback share quantity of approximately 5.06 billion shares, and a cumulative buyback amount of approximately 65 billion yuan. "Cancellation-style buyback" has also evolved from scattered cases into an increasingly common choice.
This is because, since 2026, the A-share market overall has presented a volatile pattern. In the first half of the year, the Shanghai Composite Index repeatedly pulled between 3,000 and 3,300 points, market sentiment was biased towards caution, and investor attention on listed company profitability quality and shareholder returns rose to unprecedented levelsThe regulatory layer is also continuously guiding listed companies to enhance investment value through dividends, buybacks, etc., conveying long-term bullish signals, further solidifying market bottom confidence.
Back to the lithium battery sector, the situation is more complex. From an industry fundamentals perspective, new energy vehicle penetration and energy storage demand remain strong, but capital market expectations often run ahead.In the peak period of 2021, the lithium battery sector index PE ratio once exceeded 100 times. However, with the emergence of capacity surplus worries, lithium carbonate prices dropped sharply from historical highs, and US and Europe trade barriers continued to increase, sector valuation experienced a long digestion process over the past few years.
Later, in late 2025, with the correction of lithium carbonate prices, lithium battery sector companies regained vitality.
On May 7, 2026, CATL A-share stock price surged again to a near-year high of 468.75 yuan, and was subsequently affected by factors such as concentrated institutional rebalancing (capital flowing to AI computing power tracks) and continuous foreign capital reduction, the stock price continued to fall. The company itself admitted in investor exchanges:"There has been certain volatility in the capital market recently, and the company's stock price has also fallen"—this directly explains the trigger for this round of buybacks.
This upper limit 40 billion yuan A-share largest scale cancellation-style buyback directly conveys a "stock price is undervalued" signal to the market, effectively hedging the selling pressure brought by previous concentrated institutional reductions, and driving market cap to repair quickly.
Looking back at CATL's buyback history, we can clearly see an "evolution" trajectory:
First time: October 2023, CATL launched the first round of buyback plan,proposed using 2 billion to 3 billion yuan to buyback shares, buyback purpose is to implement equity incentive plan or employee stock ownership plan.This round of buyback was completed in 2024 implementation,actual funds used were approximately 2.7 billion yuan. This was CATL's first attempt at buyback in the capital market.
Source: CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announcement on share buyback results
Second time: April 2025 to April 2026,the company announced it proposed using not less than 4 billion yuan and not more than 8 billion yuan to buyback A-shares.This round of buyback concluded successfully in April 2026, cumulative buyback shares 15,990,782 shares,total transaction amount 4.386 billion yuan, highest transaction price 317.63 yuan/share, lowest transaction price 231.50 yuan/share. But the purpose is still for equity incentive or employee stock ownership plan, no cancellation.
Source: CATL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announcement on A-share buyback results and share changes
Third time: July 2026,CATL announced it proposed using not less than 20 billion yuan and not more than 40 billion yuan to buyback shares, and clearly stated it will cancel the bought-back shares to reduce registered capital.
This is the company's first large-scale buyback for the purpose of cancellation in its history, the amount is 5-10 times the second round, nearly 20 times the first round.
Incentive-style buyback distributes value to employees, cancellation-style buyback returns value to all shareholders. The former is a management tool, the latter is a capital commitment.From 2 billion to 40 billion, from incentive to cancellation, CATL conveyed a clear signal to the market: the company is willing to convert profits into tangible returns for all shareholders.
Of course, the confidence for this large dividend comes from massive cash reserves. CATL market company cash on books as high as 372 billion yuan, in the first half of 2026 only interim dividend reached 6.493 billion yuan, annual dividend (including special dividend) total reached 36.1 billion yuan, free cash flow is sufficient. In addition to H-share placement completion, overseas financing channels are further broadened, providing sufficient ammunition for large-scale buyback.
