In a report released on Sunday, US investment bank Jefferies said it expected “the company’s volumes to benefit from strong growth momentum in the global [EV] and [energy storage system] markets”.
The bank set its CATL price target at 413 yuan (US$57) for the next 12 months, implying growth of nearly 60 per cent from its current level.
On Friday, the company – based in Ningde, Fujian province – said its 2024 net income rose 15 per cent to 50.7 billion yuan from a year earlier, its highest annual profit since it listed in Shenzhen in 2018. Revenue fell 9.7 per cent to 362 billion yuan, its first annual decline since the company first started disclosing operating figures in 2015.
On Monday, CATL shares closed 2 per cent lower at 256 yuan.
The company’s revenue decline was attributable to product price adjustments associated with declining costs of raw materials like lithium carbonate, Yao Yao, an analyst at Sinolink Securities, said in a note on Saturday.
However, the company was expected to improve its product premiums through the introduction of new technologies, Huatai Securities said in a note on Saturday, adding that CATL’s expansion into overseas markets would ensure a steady increase in profitability.
