CATL stock slips as EV battery giant hints at first annual revenue decline in 2024
The world’s largest EV battery maker warned that it expects to report less revenue in 2024 than the previous year, sending share prices down on Wednesday. CATL (SHE: 300750) stock dipped after its 2024 Annual Performance Forecast was released. Here’s a preview of CATL’s financials for last year.
CATL stock falls on lower 2024 revenue expectations
CATL released the forecast in a filing with the Shenzen Stock Exchange late Tuesday, previewing its full-year 2024 financials.
The battery giant expects annual revenue of between RMB 356 billion ($48.9 billion) and RMB 366 billion ($50.3 billion), suggesting an 11.20% to 8.71% decrease from 2023. This would mark CATL’s first time reporting lower annual revenue than the year before.
CATL said that although sales volume was up, the lower expectations were due to falling raw material prices, including lithium carbonate. Despite this, the company still expects to post annual net income of RMB 49 billion ($6.7 billion) to RMB 53 billion ($7.3 billion), which would be up 11.06% to 20.12% from 2023.
Excluding non-recurring gains and losses, CATL expects net profit attributable to shareholders between RMB 44 billion ($6 billion) and RMB 47 billion ($6.5 billion), up 9.75% to 17.23% from 2023.
CATL said the higher net profits were “mainly due to the company’s technological research and development capabilities.” It also said the competitiveness of its products continues to increase.
After launching a series of new products and technology while expanding its partnerships last year, CATL expects “steady growth” in performance.
Just yesterday, a local report from Jieman claimed CATL expected to announce plans for yet another EV battery plant in Europe as it expands its global reach. The new facility would be in addition to the one revealed last month with Stellantis and CATL’s fourth in Europe.
According to SNE Research, CATL remained the world’s largest EV battery maker, commanding 36.8% of the global market through the first 11 months of 2024.
CATL launched its new Bedrock Chassis last month, which it calls “the world’s first ultra-safe” EV skateboard chassis. It’s also aggressively expanding its EV battery swap plans with a new line of Choco-SEB batteries, which make swapping even quicker than filling a gas tank (within 100 seconds).
Despite the confidence and higher net profits, CATL’s stock slipped around 2% on Wednesday following the lower revenue expectations.
CATL shares are still up nearly 70% over the past 12 months, as the EV battery leader launched new products and expanded its global market lead.
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Environment
Chime prices IPO at $27 per share, valuing fintech company at $11.6 billion ahead of Nasdaq debut
Chime Visa Credit Card
Source: Chime
Chime priced its IPO at $27 per share on Wednesday, above the expected range, in an offering that values the provider of online banking services at $11.6 billion
The company raised roughly $700 million in the IPO, with another $165 million worth of shares being sold by existing investors. The stock is expected to begin trading Thursday under ticker symbol CHYM.
The offering comes after a years-long freeze in the fintech IPO pipeline, as rising interest rates and valuation resets kept many late-stage companies on the sidelines. The market has started to loosen. Trading platform eToro jumped 29% in its Nasdaq debut last month, and crypto company Circle popped after hitting the market last week.
Online lender Klarna, meanwhile, has delayed its IPO plans and last month reported steep quarterly losses.
Chime’s decision to go public — even after a steep cut from its last private valuation of $25 billion — marks a major test of investor appetite for consumer-facing finance companies. SoftBank, Tiger Global, and Sequoia all invested in the 2021 round at Chime’s private market peak.
The company’s top institutional shareholders are DST Global and Crosslink Capital, which owned 17% and 9.5%, respectively, of shares before the offering.
Chime’s core business — offering no-fee banking services, debit cards, and early paycheck access — draws most of its revenue from interchange fees. The company competes in various areas with fintech incumbents PayPal, Square and SoFi.
Revenue in the latest quarter climbed 32% from a year earlier to $518.7 million. Net income narrowed to $12.9 million from $15.9 million a year ago.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are leading the IPO.
WATCH: Chime files to go public
AES just completed the first half of Bellefield, which will become the largest solar + storage facility in the US.
The 1,000-megawatt (MW) Bellefield 1 project in Kern County, California, includes 500 MW of solar and 500 MW of four-hour battery storage, all under a 15-year contract with Amazon. When the full 2,000 MW Bellefield project is done, it will be the biggest solar-plus-storage installation in the country.
“Completing the first 1,000 MW of Bellefield demonstrates how rapidly solar and storage can be deployed to meet the growing energy demand of data centers,” said AES CEO Andrés Gluski.
AES has locked in deals with “major global hyperscalers” – think tech giants like Amazon and Meta – for more than 10 gigawatts of clean power. Bellefield is a big part of that.
To speed up the build and make it safer, AES used its own robot helper, Maximo. This AI-powered robotic system helped crews install solar panels faster and with more precision.
Once the full 2 GW project is online, Bellefield will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 467,000 homes annually. It’s expected to prevent more than 1 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually and boost air quality in the region.
Construction of Bellefield 1 created more than 700 union jobs, and AES says Bellefield 2, which is expected to wrap in 2026, will create around 1,000 union jobs at peak.
AES says it will start recognizing revenue from Bellefield 1 later this year, right on schedule.
Read more: $14B in EV, renewable projects scrapped as tax credit fears grow
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Kia’s first electric sedan is already being called “a box office hit.” In just its second month on the market, the Kia EV4 was the best-selling domestic electric sedan in Korea.
Kia EV4 is Korea’s best-selling domestic electric sedan
After launching sales in Korea in April, Kia sold just 831 EV4 models in its first month. Local reports attributed the “limited deliveries” in April to delivery delays and issues with subsidies.
Kia expected sales to rebound quickly after government subsidies resumed, and it appears that the issues are being resolved.
In May, Kia EV4 sales reached 1,373 in Korea, making it the best-selling domestic electric sedan. Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 also saw higher demand, with sales up 100% from last May to 754 units.
With the IONIQ 6 refresh set to launch later this year, Hyundai is offering up to over $6,500 (9 million won) in discounts on the current model. Hyundai and Kia are dealing with an influx of new electric sedans with aggressive discounts from EV makers like BYD.
One industry insider called the Kia EV4 a “box office hit,” but it still has some time to earn that title. With a starting price of about $30,000 (41.92 million won), the EV4 is one of the most affordable models in its class.
It’s even cheaper than BYD’s Seal electric sedan, which launched in Korea in April, starting at 47.5 million won ($35,000).
The EV4 is available with two battery sizes: 58.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh, offering driving ranges of 382 km (237 miles) and 533 km (331 miles) in Korea, respectively.
Kia’s electric sedan can recharge from 10% to 80% in just under 30 minutes. The extended-range battery takes about 31 minutes to recharge.
Inside, you’ll find a similar setup to the brand’s other new EV models. The setup includes Kia’s new ccNC infotainment with nearly 30″ of combined display, including dual 12.3″ navigation and driver display screens, plus a 5″ climate control screen.
| Kia EV4 Trim | Starting Price |
| Kia EV4 Standard Air | 41.92 million won ($28,900) |
| Kia EV4 Standard Earth | 46.69 million won ($32,000) |
| Kia EV4 Standard GT-Line | 47.83 million won ($32,900) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range Air | 46.29 million won ($31,800) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range Earth | 51.04 million won ($35,000) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range GT-Line | 51.04 million won ($35,900) |
The real test will come later this year when Kia launches the EV4 in Europe, followed by the US in 2026. In the US, it will be available with the same 58.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh battery packs, offering ranges of up to 235 miles and 330 miles, respectively. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated with a range of up to 391 miles.
The EV4 will also feature a built-in NACS port in the US, enabling access to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network.
Kia revealed plans to sell 165,000 EV4s a year globally, including 80,000 in Europe, 50,000 in the US, and 25,000 in Korea.
We will learn official prices closer to its launch, but the EV4 is expected to start at around $35,000 to $40,000 when it arrives in the US.
Source: Newsis, Kia
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