Ganfeng Lithium has pulled off a textbook earnings turnaround, powered by a rebound in prices for its lithium series products and expanding sales of lithium batteries.
The company's third-quarter report released on Thursday showed that net profit attributable to shareholders for the first three quarters of 2026 reached 5.012 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 19,540.50%, compared with just 25.52 million yuan in the same period last year. Revenue climbed in tandem to 36.159 billion yuan, up 147.24% year-on-year. The company attributed the improvement mainly to recovering selling prices for lithium series products and higher sales volumes of lithium battery series products.
In the third quarter alone, net profit attributable to shareholders was 755 million yuan, with year-on-year growth narrowing to 35.62%. Third-quarter revenue came in at 13.062 billion yuan, up 109.03% year-on-year.
From a market perspective, this earnings report signals that Ganfeng Lithium Group Co.,Ltd. (002460) has largely emerged from the shadow of the previous deep downturn in lithium prices. Net cash flow from operating activities turned positive at 2.295 billion yuan from a negative reading a year earlier, a year-on-year increase of 634.77%, confirming a substantive improvement in earnings quality.
Revenue and profit rise in tandem, though quarterly growth moderates
Nine-month data show that Ganfeng Lithium Group Co.,Ltd. (002460) achieved sharp jumps in both revenue and profit. Revenue of 36.159 billion yuan rose more than 1.5 times from 14.625 billion yuan a year earlier, while operating profit swung to a gain of 7.795 billion yuan from a loss of 458 million yuan in the prior-year period.
However, quarterly figures reveal signs of marginal moderation in growth. Third-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders was 755 million yuan, with year-on-year growth narrowing to 35.62%, markedly slower than the doubling-style expansion seen across the first three quarters combined. Third-quarter revenue was 13.062 billion yuan, up 109.03% year-on-year.
After excluding non-recurring gains and losses, nine-month net profit was 4.636 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 936 million yuan a year earlier, reflecting a substantive repair in core business profitability.
Investment income contributes significantly, non-core earnings cannot be ignored
Beyond core business improvement, investment income also made a contribution to profit that cannot be overlooked. Nine-month investment income reached 1.310 billion yuan, up 235.90% year-on-year, of which investment income from associates and joint ventures was 826 million yuan and included some gains from the disposal of PLS shares.
On the non-recurring side, the first three quarters contributed a total of about 376 million yuan, mainly from investment gains on the disposal of PLS shares and 130 million yuan in government subsidies. Notably, environmental fines and tax late-payment penalties at an associate company caused the company to bear about 11.1 million yuan in non-recurring net losses in proportion to its shareholding.
In the third quarter alone, net profit after excluding non-recurring items was 788 million yuan, up 2,803.44% year-on-year, higher than the growth in net profit attributable to shareholders that includes non-recurring items, indicating relatively solid core business profitability in the third quarter.
Effective cost control, early signs of scale effects
On operating costs, nine-month costs rose to 26.246 billion yuan, up 107.39% year-on-year, below the 147.24% increase in revenue, reflecting cost dilution from scale effects and higher capacity utilization.
R&D spending continued to increase, with nine-month R&D expenses reaching 1.172 billion yuan, up 60.78% year-on-year. Taxes and surcharges rose 85.77% to 346 million yuan, which the company explained was mainly due to higher taxes such as export duties and resource taxes as self-owned resource supply gradually increased.
Income tax expense rose sharply to 2.247 billion yuan, compared with a negative figure a year earlier due to losses. The balance of taxes payable rose 128.33% year-on-year to 1.737 billion yuan, consistent with the profit growth trend.
Balance sheet expands, currency swings weigh on comprehensive income
As of September 30, 2026, the company's total assets stood at 122.489 billion yuan, up 8.15% from the beginning of the year; net assets attributable to shareholders of the listed company were 48.122 billion yuan, up 6.59% from the beginning of the year.
On the liability side, long-term borrowings increased by about 3.494 billion yuan from the beginning of the year to 19.538 billion yuan, while long-term payables rose 33.24% to 3.996 billion yuan, mainly due to an increase in the company's issuance of exchangeable notes and finance lease payments.
Comprehensive income was clearly dragged down by currency factors. Other comprehensive income posted a loss for the first three quarters, with changes in foreign currency financial statement translation differences generating a negative impact of more than 1.435 billion yuan, resulting in a net after-tax other comprehensive loss attributable to owners of the parent company of 1.477 billion yuan. As a result, total comprehensive income for the first three quarters was 3.886 billion yuan, lower than the absolute value of net profit.
Cash flow improves across the board, capital spending somewhat compressed
At the cash flow level, net cash flow from operating activities turned positive at 2.295 billion yuan from negative 429 million yuan a year earlier, mainly benefiting from a sharp increase in cash received from the sale of goods and provision of services to 30.331 billion yuan.
Net cash outflow from investing activities narrowed to 2.045 billion yuan from 2.988 billion yuan a year earlier, mainly because cash paid for the purchase and construction of fixed assets, intangible assets and other long-term assets was sharply compressed to 2.094 billion yuan from 5.381 billion yuan, indicating some restraint in capital spending.
On financing activities, net inflows narrowed to 706 million yuan from 5.797 billion yuan a year earlier, mainly due to an increase in cash paid to repay debt during the period. At the end of the reporting period, cash and cash equivalents stood at 8.749 billion yuan, up slightly from the beginning of the year.
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