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CATL electric vehicle battery production facility, Shenzhen, China
Photo: CnEVPost

CATL Stock Falls 36% From May Peak as Automakers Shift Battery Orders

CnEVPost2 min read8 sources

Why did CATL stock fall 36%?

CATL (300750.SZ) stock fell 36% from its May peak to about 301 yuan by Monday as Li Auto, Xiaomi, and Xpeng moved battery orders to rival suppliers.

Key numbers

Stock decline from May peak~301 yuan-36% from ~468 yuan peak
Market cap erased since May~$100B lostdown ~$100B since May peak
H1 2026 revenue276.92B yuan ($38.5B)+54.8% YoY
H1 2026 net profit43.28B yuan ($6.0B)+42% YoY
China battery market share (Aug)41.45%-5.2pp from April peak of 46.64%
Li Auto investment in Sunwoda2.65B yuan (~$370M)8.79% stake acquired

What happened

CATL (300750.SZ) stock fell 36% from its May peak to about 301 yuan by Monday as Li Auto, Xiaomi, and Xpeng moved battery orders to rival suppliers. Li Auto spent 2.65 billion yuan on a stake in battery maker Sunwoda and switched its L8, L6, and i8 models away from CATL; Xiaomi spread its orders across four suppliers while Xpeng made CALB its largest battery source. China's industrial media stepped in on Monday, calling the supply shift "normal business practices," but shares stayed near a one-year low. The selloff wiped roughly $100 billion from CATL's market value since May, even as first-half profit climbed 42% to 43.28 billion yuan.

Why it matters

CATL supplies batteries to electric carmakers worldwide — from Tesla and BMW to BYD and Volkswagen — so any shift in its customer base ripples through the entire EV industry. The company still controls 41% of China's battery market and made $6 billion in profit in the first half of 2026, yet investors fear automakers can now play suppliers against each other on price. A sustained price war would squeeze margins across the whole battery industry and could slow investment in next-generation battery technology.

Who this affects

Marketbearish
High impact
CATL selloff lifted rival battery stocks; EV sector fell.
Companybearish
High impact
CATL lost $100 billion in market cap; profit still strong.
Competitorsbullish
Medium impact
CALB, Sunwoda, and Gotion gained battery orders and market share.
Industrymixed
Medium impact
Battery supply chains diversifying; price competition risk rising.

CATL vs BYD, CALB, Gotion

CATL300750.SZ~$207B-24%41.5%289.6 GWh
BYD002594.SZ~$93B (A-shr)~flat21.0%106.7 GWh
CALB3931.HK———37.3 GWh
Gotion002074.SZ———34.0 GWh

As of 2026-09-22

How we got here

  1. CATL market cap tops 2.1 trillion yuan (~$300B), an all-time record

  2. CATL A-shares hit peak near 468 yuan; stock at highest-ever valuation

  3. Li Auto formally switches L8 and L6 models to Sunwoda batteries

  4. Shares drop 10% in two days to 304 yuan; Bloomberg reports $100B rout

  5. Chinese state media rebuts de-CATLization; shares touch one-year low

What to watch

  • CATL Q3 2026 results — watch for margin compression from price competitionQ4 2026
  • Whether Sunwoda and CALB batteries pass Li Auto and Xiaomi quality benchmarksQ4 2026
  • Beijing policy action — subsidies or procurement rules to stabilize CATLQ4 2026

Educational content only. Not investment advice.

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