CATL’s Hong Kong shares fell 10.64 percent to 368 Hong Kong dollars on Wednesday, their lowest since July 2025, and its Shenzhen shares fell about 12 percent, after the battery maker reported third quarter net profit of 21.25 billion yuan, up 14.54 percent year on year but down 5.77 percent from the second quarter, on revenue up 58.58 percent to 165.22 billion yuan. Gross margin fell to 20.69 percent, a second consecutive quarterly decline, and the company attributed the drop in profit per unit to product mix changes, a consumption tax on lithium batteries and a reduced battery export tax rebate, adding that it is negotiating how to share the tax costs with customers. China resumed a consumption tax on lithium-ion batteries on September 1 at a transitional 2 percent rate, rising to 4 percent in September 2027, and cut the value added tax export rebate for battery products from 9 percent to 6 percent in April, with the rebate eliminated entirely from January 1, 2027.
CATL shares slide after third quarter profit miss
CATL shares fell 10.64 percent in Hong Kong to 368 Hong Kong dollars, their lowest since July 2025, and about 12 percent in Shenzhen on Wednesday, after third quarter net profit fell 5.77 percent from the previous quarter to 21.25 billion yuan even as revenue rose 58.58 percent year on year to 165.22 billion yuan.
Why it matters: CATL is the world's largest electric vehicle battery maker, and the selloff shows tax changes and falling unit profit, not demand, are now the binding constraint on battery margins, with the company negotiating to pass part of the new tax costs on to its customers.
Data as of CnEVPost, October 21, 2026, read in full, reporting CATL's third quarter results released on October 20, 2026 and its earnings call; the earnings miss and analyst target cuts are corroborated by Dow Jones Newswires via Morningstar, October 21, 2026, and the Shenzhen move by Reuters reporting via Aju Press, October 21, 2026. Correction, October 21, 2026, 05:49 ET: the first version of this item gave closing share figures that the sources read for it do not support; the share figures have been corrected to those in the CnEVPost report read in full. Developing item.
Sources
- CATL shares fall over 10% in Hong Kong as tax changes add to profit pressure - CnEVPost - 2026-10-21
- CATL Stock Slides After Earnings Miss - Morningstar (Dow Jones Newswires) - 2026-10-21
- Chinese Stock Market Declines Amid CATL Earnings Shock - Aju Press (Reuters) - 2026-10-21