10 domestic car companies are no match for one battery seller! CATL announces production expansion by 1.5 times, earning 240 million per day.

On July 27, Kuai Technology reported that CATL, the leading power battery manufacturer known as "Ningwang" in the industry, recently released its semi-annual financial report for 2026, with core operating metrics significantly exceeding market expectations.

According to the financial report, CATL achieved total operating revenue of 276.917 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 54.80%; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 43.284 billion yuan, up 41.98% year-on-year, meaning the company earned an average of about 240 million yuan per day during the period, demonstrating remarkably efficient profitability; non-GAAP net profit also surged to 39.013 billion yuan, up 43.44% year-on-year, indicating a solid fundamental performance.

How extraordinary is this level of profitability? The combined net profit of ten major domestic automakers—including BYD, SAIC, and Geely—for the same period totaled only 17.5 billion yuan, meaning the overall profitability of all automakers combined is less than half that of CATL, a single power battery company.

The overall profitability of the domestic automotive industry also remains grim. From January to May 2026, the overall profit margin of the domestic automotive industry was only 3.4%, nearly half the average profit margin of 6.1% for industrial enterprises above a designated size nationwide. The entire automotive camp is struggling in a difficult situation of low profits or even losses in exchange for market share.

The primary external factor squeezing automakers' profit margins is that power battery costs now account for 40% to 50% of total vehicle prices. Combined with the continuous rise in prices of upstream core raw materials such as lithium carbonate and in-vehicle chips in recent years, virtually all cost increases have been passed on and borne by automakers.

At the same time, the increasingly fierce and unhealthy internal competition within the domestic new energy vehicle industry is further eroding already thin industry profits.

In the first five months of this year, a total of 550 new passenger car models were launched in China, averaging three new models per day. The pace of new car launches far exceeds that of the already highly competitive smartphone industry.

The vast majority of automakers can only compete for limited market share through price cuts and promotions. The prolonged price war continues to depress the gross profit margins of all models on sale. Many car brands lose money on every vehicle sold, relying solely on government subsidies and ancillary revenue to sustain meager profits, leaving no room for long-term R&D investment.

Against the backdrop of industry-wide profitability pressure, CATL has simultaneously announced a massive share buyback and cancellation plan of 20 billion to 40 billion yuan, along with an interim dividend plan of 6.5 billion yuan. After an adjustment cycle from 2023 to 2024, during which the entire industry was generally cautious, this power battery leader is redrawing the future landscape of the entire new energy industry, backed by the reality of supply falling short of downstream demand and a strong determination to aggressively expand production capacity.

Behind the impressive performance of double-digit growth in both revenue and profit, two more indicative sets of industry data are particularly noteworthy. In the first half of this year, the capacity utilization rate of CATL's various production bases reached 94.86%, approaching the limit of full-capacity operation.

Meanwhile, the company disclosed that its total capacity under construction has now reached 764 GWh, 1.46 times its current total installed production capacity. After the subsequent capacity is released, CATL's market advantage in the global power battery track will further widen.