On October 29, Sunwoda Electronic Co., Ltd. (300207.SZ) released its operating results for the third quarter of 2026.
For the first three quarters, revenue reached 63.462 billion yuan, up 45.78% year on year, marking the best level for the same period in history; third-quarter revenue alone totaled 25.284 billion yuan, up 52.78% year on year.
At a time when most segments of the lithium battery supply chain are still digesting capacity, this growth rate exceeds the industry average.
The same day's announcement also disclosed that Sunwoda Power completed a capital increase and share expansion, bringing Xiaomi in as a shareholder, with the company's stake reduced to 22.78% and its board seats no more than half, turning the power segment from a controlling subsidiary into an equity participation that is no longer consolidated into the financial statements, expected to have a positive impact of 3.2 billion to 4.5 billion yuan on 2026 net profit.
At the same time, the company voluntarily terminated its Hong Kong IPO plan.
Reshaping the power segment structure
The track in which Sunwoda Power operates continues to see deepening concentration at the top.
SNE Research data shows that global electric vehicle power battery installations reached 725.2GWh from January to July 2026, with CATL leading at 289.6GWh and a 39.9% share, while BYD ranked second with 106.7GWh and 14.7%.
Differentiation in the domestic market is equally pronounced. In data for January to July compiled by the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance, CATL accounted for 45.37% of installed volume and BYD's FinDreams accounted for 17.52%, with the two together still taking more than 60% of the market.
Although second-tier manufacturers have room to compete for share, the cost pressure of expansion and competition is significant.
CATL's capacity utilization rate was close to 100% in the first half of 2026, while most second-tier battery makers hovered between 60% and 70%, with depreciation costs and yield fluctuations continuing to squeeze profit margins.
There is also feedback on the price side: CATL's power battery business gross margin fell 321 basis points in the first half, objectively narrowing the distance between it and second-tier manufacturers such as Sunwoda and CALB, but this is more the result of the leader trading price for share rather than a substantive improvement in second-tier profitability.
If the power segment had remained in the listed company's consolidated statements, Sunwoda's revenue scale would have grown accordingly, but the fixed asset depreciation, R&D amortization and various costs generated by capacity ramp-up corresponding to the battery business would also have been fully reflected in the income statement.
With Xiaomi becoming a direct shareholder of Sunwoda Power as an automaker, after deconsolidation the listed company shifts from "operating a power battery business" to "holding partial equity in that asset."
Under accounting standards, the gain from remeasuring the remaining equity at fair value forms the main body of that 3.2 billion to 4.5 billion yuan net profit forecast.
Automotive industry analyst Wang Kun told reporters that before the customer structure of second-tier power battery manufacturers has solidified, consolidation would amplify the disturbance from the capital expenditure cycle on the listed company's income statement, while under an equity participation structure the market's focus in assessing the power segment will shift from installed scale to capacity utilization and collection quality.
The impact of this equity adjustment is not only reflected in the financial statements, but also mirrors changes on the automaker supply chain side.
Automakers such as Xiaomi and Li Auto have continued to broaden their battery supply channels over the past two years. Xiaomi reached cooperation with Sunwoda Power and CALB on "Longjia Battery," while Li Auto injected 2.65 billion yuan into Sunwoda Power and plans to gradually switch to its own battery system starting in the fourth quarter.
The trend of automakers "de-single-sourcing" has opened a window for second-tier battery makers to enter the supply system.
Diverging business cycles
After the power segment is deconsolidated, Sunwoda's revenue structure will be more concentrated in consumer batteries and energy storage systems.
The industries in which these two businesses operate are in completely opposite development cycles.
Consumer batteries are Sunwoda's foundation, and the full value of this business cannot simply be judged by smartphone shipment data.
Global smartphone shipments fell 22% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, and rising memory chip prices pushed cost pressure toward the end market, shifting handset makers' operational focus from "grabbing share" to "protecting profit."
The customer relationships Sunwoda has built over many years in phones, laptops and smart wearables provide predictable cash flow and a relatively mature profit model. Before the power segment achieves stable self-sustaining cash generation, this profit plays the role of a "base."
At the same time, the technological capabilities accumulated in the consumer electronics segment are being transmitted to the automotive business.
Sunwoda Power's automotive electronics division has extended its product line from BMS battery management systems to domain controllers, BDU and PDU, and in 2024 expanded to on-board chargers OBC and high-low voltage converters DCDC as customers demanded greater integration, with integrated solutions winning overseas orders.
Quality inspection standards and flexible manufacturing experience honed in Apple's supply chain have also been partly reused in quality control for automotive production lines.
Wang Kun said that in this round of consumer electronics adjustment, there is a time lag in the transmission of cost pressure to midstream segments such as batteries, and battery companies' gross margins may not bottom in sync with terminal shipments.
For companies extending from consumer batteries to automotive electronics, he believes the real test is not whether they can make products, but whether they can secure opportunities for continuous iteration within automakers' project designation systems. Competition in automotive power supplies and BMS has passed the stage where "capacity equals share."
Unlike consumer electronics and automotive electronics, the energy storage segment is in a contradictory environment of high prosperity but overcapacity.
Global energy storage battery shipments reached 839.3GWh in the first three quarters of 2026, up 96.3% year on year, while domestic manufacturers shipped 810.9GWh, a gain of 94.5%.
The large-scale development of source-grid-side projects and the surge in overseas residential storage together supported this boom, but the industry's high growth rate does not translate evenly into profits for every participant.
In the competitive landscape of energy storage cells, CATL, Hithium and EVE Energy form the leading tier, while Sunwoda occupies a position of "securing a certain market share."
Total planned industry capacity has exceeded 2TWh, while global energy storage cell demand for the full year 2026 is about 850GWh, with structural oversupply pressure concentrated in low-end small-capacity cells.
In the short term, the energy storage business relies more on industry demand growth to lift valuation, and whether its profit contribution can rise still depends on the development of core capabilities such as large-capacity cell yield and the implementation of overseas projects.
The termination of the Hong Kong IPO directly reflects the current reality of the financing environment in overseas capital markets.
More than 60% of Hong Kong IPOs broke issue price in the third quarter of 2026, cornerstone subscription cooled, and in October alone several A-share companies including Dongcheng Pharmaceutical and Goertek successively terminated Hong Kong listing plans.
If issuance were pressed ahead in an environment of insufficient market absorption, the dilution of shareholder rights caused by issuance discounts and subsequent maintenance could cost more than postponing the listing.
The company's wording of a "phased timing choice" leaves room for maneuver, but when the window reopens depends on the pace of recovery in Hong Kong's risk appetite for new energy assets.
From the data, the third-quarter revenue growth rate leaves room for this adjustment.
After the power segment shifts to an equity participation model, Sunwoda's core test centers on two points: whether the consumer battery business can stabilize its cash flow foundation at the bottom of terminal demand and translate technological accumulation into profitable orders for the automotive electronics business; and whether the energy storage business can build its own profit advantage beyond overall industry growth.
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