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CATL Q4 sales may rise 32% on AI data center demand
CATL may report a 32% year-on-year rise in December quarter sales, according to Bloomberg-compiled data, driven by strong energy storage orders from grid projects and artificial intelligence data centers, which could widen its market cap lead over BYD.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. is a Chinese battery maker.
The company’s market value is about 1.6 trillion yuan or US$232 billion, nearly US$120 billion more than BYD.
Market sentiment has shifted toward upstream battery suppliers as profit outlooks for the EV sector have weakened, lifting CATL relative to BYD.
BYD is expected to report its worst quarterly sales decline in five years later this month as intense competition and sluggish consumption in China weigh on demand.
Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments LLC, said investors prefer battery-focused models with greater exposure to energy storage system growth.
🔗 Source: Bloomberg
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
CATL is riding the AI wave while BYD navigates a saturated EV market
- CATL has landed strong energy storage orders in a market worth about $4.0 billion in 2024 and projected to hit $8.8 billion by 2031 1.
- AI data centers are driving demand since some sites need hundreds of megawatts plus direct links to transmission networks 2.
- BYD faces a crowded China electric vehicle market where new energy vehicles (a Chinese policy category that includes battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars) made up 59.4% of new passenger car sales in November 3.
- Price cuts have intensified, and BYD’s domestic passenger car deliveries fell 8% year-over-year in June while smaller rivals gained share 4.
The world’s biggest tech companies are a major new customer segment for battery makers
- CATL and BYD are taking different paths, and battery makers are leaning more on grid storage plus data centers alongside consumer vehicles 5.
- Hyperscalers (very large cloud computing companies) like Amazon and Microsoft are pouring money into buildouts. In 2024, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta spent over $200 billion, up 62% year-over-year 5.
- These firms buy batteries to smooth AI power swings, including fast jitter-like spikes that can disrupt grid stability and reliability 2.
- With the top ten manufacturers holding about 95% of China’s new energy vehicle market, battery suppliers are turning to steadier demand like energy storage 3.
