Last Updated -

April 19, 2026

CATL

Company Profile and Market Insights

Explore the business model, global strategy, and market performance including insights into its position in China.

Key facts

Founded 2011 • SZSE: 300750 • HKEX: 3750 • FY 2025 results (year ended Dec 31, 2025)

RMB 423.7b

Revenue (FY 2025)

RMB 72.2b

Net profit attributable (FY 2025)

661 GWh

Lithium-ion battery sales (FY 2025)

RMB 22.1b

R&D investment (FY 2025)

39.2%

Global power battery market share (2025)

772 GWh

Global production capacity (2025 year-end)

About

Founded in 2011 in Ningde, Fujian, CATL has grown from a new venture led by Robin Zeng and the former ATL founding team into the world’s largest battery company for electric vehicles and energy storage. The company is still based in Ningde and operates as a dual-listed business on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CATL defines itself as a zero-carbon new energy technology company, with a mission centered on electrification, energy transition, and the buildout of a broader zero-carbon ecosystem.

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At its core, CATL develops, manufactures, and sells EV batteries and energy storage system batteries, while also extending into battery materials, recycling, and after-sales services. By the end of 2025, the company had built six major R&D centers and 24 battery factories worldwide, supported by about 185,839 employees. CATL’s scale is reflected in its 2025 revenue of RMB 423.7 billion, lithium-ion battery sales of 661 GWh, and a 39.2% global power battery market share, which kept it in first place for the ninth straight year. Its batteries have now been installed in more than 24 million vehicles worldwide.

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CATL has also evolved beyond battery manufacturing into a broader energy platform. The company is building battery swapping networks, zero-carbon industrial park solutions, grid-related storage systems, and a circular battery recycling business that recovered 210,000 tons of spent batteries and materials in 2025. That shift matters because CATL is no longer only a supplier to automakers. It is becoming a core infrastructure company for electrified transport, stationary storage, and industrial decarbonization.

Business Model and Market Position

CATL runs an integrated battery platform rather than a single-product cell business. The company manages R&D, procurement, production, and sales inside one system, and it earns revenue mainly from EV batteries, energy storage batteries, battery materials, and related solutions. In 2025, EV batteries made up 74.7% of revenue and ESS batteries 14.7%, while battery materials, recycling, mineral resources, and other businesses added further diversification. CATL supports this model with six R&D centers and 24 battery factories worldwide.

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Power batteries
CATL sells cells, modules, battery boxes, and packs across multiple chemistries, including LFP, ternary, sodium-ion, hybrid, and condensed matter batteries. Its products serve passenger EVs, plug-in hybrids, buses, heavy trucks, and selected emerging uses such as vessels and aircraft. Customization and joint R&D with automakers are central to the model because CATL is built as a supplier platform for multiple OEMs rather than a single captive brand.
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Energy storage systems
CATL does not stop at battery cells. It also sells cabinets, containers, and integrated storage systems for utility-scale, industrial, commercial, and data center use. That pushes the business further into engineering, integration, and service. In 2025, CATL sold 121 GWh of energy storage batteries, ranked first globally in storage battery shipments for the fifth straight year, and delivered more than 70 system integration projects, with integration shipments up more than 160% year on year.
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Materials, recycling, and resource security
CATL also produces cathode materials, precursors, and lithium salts, recovers metals from spent batteries, and takes stakes in upstream resources such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and phosphorus. This gives CATL tighter control over input costs, supply stability, and battery circularity than a pure downstream assembler.
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Global manufacturing and local delivery
The company relies mainly on self-built manufacturing bases, then adds joint ventures, technology licensing, joint R&D, and localized operations to serve global customers. By the end of 2025, its after-sales network covered 75 countries or regions, with about 1,200 service stations and 11 NING Service centers. That footprint matters because batteries are industrial products that require local engineering support, maintenance, and qualification work.

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CATL’s market position remains unusually strong. According to SNE Research data cited by CATL, the company held 39.2% of global power battery usage in 2025, ranked No. 1 for nine consecutive years, and accounted for 30.4% of global energy storage battery shipments, also ranking first for a fifth straight year. Its edge comes from full-chain R&D across materials, cells, systems, and recycling, broad chemistry coverage, large-scale manufacturing, and expansion into system integration, battery swapping, and localized service. For investors, the key point is that CATL is no longer only a battery cell producer. It is building a broader battery infrastructure platform with scale that few peers match.

Performance in China

China remains the market where CATL’s scale is most visible. In 2025, CATL recorded 333.57 GWh of domestic power battery installations in China, enough to power 5.07 million vehicles and secure a 43.42% market share. BYD ranked second at 21.58% and CALB third at 6.98%. CATL was even stronger in ternary batteries, where it held a 70.90% share in 2025. The lead continued into 2026. In March 2026, CATL installed 25.71 GWh in China and held a 45.54% market share, ahead of BYD at 17.83%. Those gains came during a softer EV demand backdrop in China, which points to CATL’s strong OEM coverage and product positioning.

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Key strategic drivers in China include:

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Dense local manufacturing
CATL kept expanding its production footprint inside China. Its Shandong plant entered operation in May 2025 as the company’s first production base in Northern China. In Chongqing, CATL also launched its first “embedded manufacturing” base inside the SERES factory to supply AITO models locally, tightening links between battery production and vehicle assembly.
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Deep ties with domestic automakers
CATL continued to strengthen its role across China’s leading EV brands. In 2025 it formed a battery swapping partnership with NIO, and it expanded cooperation with Geely across battery technology, platform integration, and supply chain development. Geely models tied to this relationship include the Zeekr 001 and Lynk & Co 900, showing CATL’s reach from mass market to premium segments.
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Standards, infrastructure, and local ecosystem control
CATL strengthened its local position through standards leadership and infrastructure buildout. In May 2025, it became the first company in China whose full mass-produced EV battery portfolio passed testing under the new GB 38031-2025 safety standard, which takes effect on July 1, 2026. By the end of 2025, CATL had built more than 1,000 Choco-Swap stations and more than 300 QIJI Energy Swap stations, and in February 2026 it said it planned to open more than 3,000 Choco-Swap stations across 140 Chinese cities during 2026.

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Against domestic rivals, BYD remains the main challenger, while CALB and other suppliers compete from a far smaller base. CATL’s edge in China comes from broad customer coverage, leadership across both ternary and LFP chemistries, close integration with local OEMs, and a growing battery swap and service network that reaches passenger cars, fleets, and heavy trucks.

Growth and Future Prospects

CATL is entering its next phase with several growth engines instead of one. In 2025, revenue rose 17% to RMB 423.7 billion, net profit rose 42% to RMB 72.2 billion, and lithium-ion battery sales reached 661 GWh. Momentum continued into 2026. Reuters reported first quarter revenue of RMB 129.1 billion and net profit of RMB 20.7 billion, both above expectations. That financial base supports continued investment in capacity, new chemistries, and infrastructure.

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Key growth drivers include:

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Energy storage is becoming a larger second engine.
CATL sold 121 GWh of energy storage batteries in 2025, up 29.1% year on year, and remained No. 1 globally in storage battery shipments for the fifth straight year. The company is also moving deeper into full-system integration, with more than 70 projects delivered and integration shipments rising by more than 160%. That matters because grid and commercial storage are less tied to passenger EV cycles and widen CATL’s addressable market. Europe’s battery installations are also expected to rise again in 2026, which supports the medium-term demand backdrop for CATL’s storage business.
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The product cycle is widening beyond standard lithium-ion offerings.
In 2025, CATL launched the second-generation Shenxing battery, Shenxing Pro, Freevoy Dual-Power, Naxtra sodium-ion, and new hybrid products. CATL said sodium-ion batteries are expected to see wider adoption from 2026 across battery swapping, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and energy storage. The February 2026 launch of a mass-production sodium-ion passenger vehicle with Changan shows that this is moving into commercial rollout. For investors, the strategic value is lower dependence on lithium-heavy raw material chains and stronger positioning in cold-weather and lower-cost vehicle segments.
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Global localization remains a major growth lever.
CATL ended 2025 with 772 GWh of battery production capacity and 321 GWh under construction. It is advancing the Hungary factory, the Spain joint venture with Stellantis, and the Indonesia battery industry chain project. In Spain, CATL and Stellantis broke ground in November 2025 on a plant targeted to start production by late 2026. CATL is also preparing for tighter European compliance requirements through its February 2026 battery passport and decarbonization cooperation with BMW. Local production plus local compliance work is essential to retaining European OEM business at scale.
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Battery swapping, recycling, and zero-carbon services extend the value chain.
By the end of 2025, CATL had built more than 1,000 Choco-Swap stations for passenger vehicles and more than 300 QIJI stations for heavy trucks. Together, the two networks delivered more than 1.15 million swap services during the year. CATL also said it plans to open more than 3,000 Choco-Swap stations across 140 Chinese cities in 2026. At the same time, its recycling operations processed 210,000 tons of spent batteries and materials in 2025, and the company has framed circularity as a long-term way to reduce raw material dependence and strengthen regional battery recovery. These businesses add service revenue, infrastructure control, and materials recovery on top of battery sales.
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Digital manufacturing is supporting faster scale-up.
CATL’s annual report says the company is building a digital twin system across R&D, procurement, manufacturing, sales, and management to speed the path from scientific discovery to commercial product. CATL also won the World Economic Forum’s 2026 MINDS Award for AI-driven battery design, which supports its push to shorten development cycles and improve delivery quality at scale. This does not create demand on its own, though it strengthens CATL’s ability to defend lead times, yields, and product iteration speed.
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Challenges ahead include:

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Price pressure in core batteries.
CATL remains dominant, but the battery sector is still highly competitive. CATL itself lists intensified market competition as a core risk. Reuters also noted shrinking gross margins in CATL’s core battery businesses and pointed to ongoing cost pressure from automakers, even as first quarter 2026 results stayed strong.
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Execution risk from capital-heavy expansion.
Overseas plants, battery swap infrastructure, system integration, and new chemistry platforms all require large and sustained investment. This is an inference based on CATL’s 772 GWh installed capacity, 321 GWh under construction, its overseas factory rollout, and its fast-growing swap network. Strong current earnings help fund that push, but returns still depend on smooth ramp-up, local hiring, supply stability, and customer volume follow-through.
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Regulatory and localization complexity abroad.
CATL’s European opportunity is large, though market access is becoming more compliance-heavy. Battery passport rules, carbon accounting, and local industrial policy are raising the operational burden for battery suppliers. CATL is responding early through its BMW cooperation and wider low-carbon positioning, which improves readiness but also raises the execution bar for every overseas program.

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CATL’s future growth is broader than EV battery volume alone. Energy storage, overseas manufacturing, sodium-ion chemistry, battery swapping, recycling, and digital manufacturing are all becoming meaningful pillars of the story. The company remains the sector’s central scale player. The main investment debate now is margin quality rather than demand visibility.

This Company Profile was written by Dominik Diemer

Dominik Diemer blends an investor mindset with execution discipline.

He is a SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) and Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) practitioner at DMG MORI Digital, working as a SAFe Release Train Engineer and internal consultant in the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE).

His focus is prioritization, flow, and dependency management that turns strategy into outcomes. With experience across Bertelsmann and the Founders Foundation, he bridges corporate and startup thinking.

He also invests privately in private equity deals, sharpening his view on business models, value drivers, and go-to-market.

StockCounterParts reflects that lens.

Dominik Diemer

Founder of StockCounterparts.com