Contemporary Amperex Technology, better known as CATL, saw its shares climb after posting 2025 profit ahead of expectations, offering investors a fresh sign that growth in energy storage and overseas markets is helping the Chinese battery maker cushion a weaker electric vehicle backdrop.

Net income rose 42.3% year-on-year to RMB 72.2 billion (USD 10.4 billion), while revenue increased 17% to RMB 423.7 billion (USD 61.2 billion), according to the company’s disclosure. CATL also reported lithium battery sales of 661 gigawatt-hours, up 39% from a year earlier.

The results suggest CATL is navigating the industry slowdown better than many battery peers, even if the recovery still rests mainly on its EV battery business. Revenue from EV batteries rose 25.1% to RMB 316.5 billion (USD 45.8 billion) and accounted for nearly three-quarters of group revenue, while energy storage battery revenue grew 9% to RMB 62.4 billion (USD 9 billion).

That puts CATL in a stronger position as battery makers look for growth beyond China’s crowded EV market. Energy storage has become a key part of that shift, helped by renewable power buildout and rising electricity demand from data centers, though CATL’s own revenue mix still shows a company far more battery-led than its broader positioning implies.

Overseas expansion remains central to CATL’s narrative. Revenue from international markets rose 17.5% to RMB 129.6 billion (USD 18.7 billion) in 2025, accounting for 30.6% of total sales. The company’s overseas gross margin also remained above its domestic margin, indicating that international growth is supporting profit as well as scale.

Margins improved at the group level, though not because CATL suddenly made more on every core battery sold. Gross margin rose to 26.27% from 24.44%, but the annual report said the main lift came from battery materials, recycling and other businesses. Gross margin in EV batteries and energy storage batteries was broadly flat.

CATL is also trying to hold its lead through technology and infrastructure. The company highlighted sodium-ion batteries, battery swapping, electric vessels and zero-carbon industrial projects as future growth areas, while R&D expenses rose 19% year-on-year to RMB 22.1 billion (USD 3.2 billion). Global production capacity reached 772 GWh, with another 321 GWh under construction.

That spending reflects a broader ambition. CATL wants investors to look beyond cells and packs toward battery swapping, energy infrastructure and other operating platforms. The company said it had built more than 1,000 Choco-Swap stations for passenger vehicles across 45 cities, over 300 heavy truck battery swapping stations across 26 provinces, and deployed close to 1,000 electric vessels globally, while also highlighting progress in eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicles and zero-carbon industrial parks.

The direction is clear enough, but the financial evidence is thinner. Without more granular disclosure, those newer businesses are easier to treat as growth options than as proof that CATL has already built a meaningfully broader earnings model.

The balance sheet, however, gives it time to keep building. Monetary funds rose to RMB 333.5 billion (USD 48.2 billion) at the end of 2025 from RMB 303.5 billion (USD 43.9 billion) a year earlier, while net assets attributable to shareholders increased 36.5% to RMB 337.1 billion (USD 48.7 billion). Fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders also rose to RMB 23.2 billion (USD 3.4 billion) from RMB 14 billion (USD 2 billion) in the first quarter, suggesting earnings strengthened through the year.

CATL’s business is broadening, but the financial engine is still familiar. 2025 was a strong year. It just was not yet proof that the company’s newer platforms matter as much as its core battery business.

Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.92 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 10, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.