EVE Energy's Q1 revenue increased by 62% year-on-year, net profit grew by 31.35%, and energy storage shipments exceeded 20 GWh | Earnings Report Insights
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EVE Energy delivered a strong shipment volume and a significant jump in revenue in the first quarter of 2026, but rising material costs eroded profit margins. Net profit growth was less than half of revenue growth, and operating cash flow turned negative, raising concerns about the quality of earnings.
The company’s quarterly report disclosed on April 24 shows that in the first quarter of 2026, operating revenue reached 20.68 billion yuan, up 61.61% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.446 billion yuan, up 31.35% year-on-year. The growth gap of more than 30 percentage points between the two indicators reflects continuous erosion of gross profit margin from a 67.70% jump in operating costs.
In shipment volume, energy storage battery shipments for the quarter reached 20.38 GWh, up 60.82% year-on-year, surpassing both the scale and growth rate of power batteries; power battery shipments reached 14.34 GWh, up 40.93% year-on-year. At the same time, net cash flow from operating activities turned from a positive 892 million yuan in the same period last year to a negative 366 million yuan, mainly due to an increase in payments to suppliers.
Faced with supply chain cost pressures, EVE Energy stated that it has proactively implemented forward management measures, diversified supply chain layouts, strategic sales planning, and prudent use of financial instruments, and will, under the guidance of the Board and the Strategy & Sustainable Development Committee, further intensify strategic sales planning at opportune times to enhance operational stability.
Revenue and Profit: Growth Divergence Highlights Cost Pressure
In the first quarter, EVE Energy achieved total operating revenue of 20.68 billion yuan, up 61.61% year-on-year, continuing its high-speed expansion. However, operating costs increased 67.70% during the same period to 17.78 billion yuan, about 6 percentage points higher than revenue growth. The company attributed the faster growth in costs to a combination of business expansion and rising material prices.
Net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.446 billion yuan, up 31.35% year-on-year; net profit after excluding non-recurring gains and losses was 1.115 billion yuan, up 36.32% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share rose from 0.54 yuan in the same period last year to 0.70 yuan, and the weighted average return on net assets increased to 3.35%, up from 2.88% in the same period last year.
In R&D expenses, the company invested 841 million yuan in the quarter, up 38.09% year-on-year, accounting for about 4.1% of revenue, reflecting continued investment in product iteration. Management expenses also rose by 36.00% to 577 million yuan as business scale expanded.
Shipment Volume: Energy Storage Surpasses Power, Dual Strong Growth
Shipment volume was the key highlight this quarter. Energy storage battery shipments for the quarter reached 20.38 GWh, up 60.82% year-on-year, with both absolute scale and growth rate significantly surpassing the power battery segment, showing that energy storage business has become the main growth driver for the company. Power battery shipments reached 14.34 GWh, up 40.93% year-on-year, showing steady growth.
The rapid scale-up in both key segments contributed to the significant surge in revenue. The company stated it will continue to seize market growth opportunities, push product iterations, service upgrades, and process optimization to drive sustained business growth.
Cost Response: Hedging and Pre-Stocking Measures
In its quarterly report, the company specifically noted "significant supply chain cost pressure" in the first quarter and adopted several forward management measures. From the financial data, gains from changes in fair value increased sharply from 220,000 yuan in the same period last year to 285 million yuan, mainly from changes in the fair value of hedging instruments. Derivative financial assets grew 70.62% from the start of the year to 655 million yuan, indicating that the company has significantly intensified its use of financial instruments to hedge raw material price fluctuations.
For inventories, the quarter-ending balance increased to 11.49 billion yuan, up 39.42% from the start of the year. The company explained this was related to pre-stocking in overseas VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) warehouses with new capacity release and proactive raw material reserves during a period of rising material prices. Prepayments dropped 30.70% to 979 million yuan due to receipt of purchased raw materials.
Cash Flow and Debt: Operating Cash Flow Turns Negative, Short-Term Debt Pressure Rises
The shift to negative operating cash flow is an important financial signal this quarter. Net cash flow from operating activities was -366 million yuan in the quarter, down sharply from 892 million yuan in the same period last year, a decline of 140.99%, which the company attributed to increased payments to suppliers.
In terms of debt structure, short-term borrowings increased 94.40% from the start of the year to 1.373 billion yuan, and non-current liabilities due within one year increased 30.12% to 8.51 billion yuan, raising short-term debt pressure. To supplement funding gaps, the company obtained a cash inflow of 3.407 billion yuan from new borrowings in the quarter, net cash flow from financing activities was 2.705 billion yuan, and ending cash balance increased to 11.33 billion yuan, up 33.21% from the start of the year, partly due to maturity of structured deposits returning to cash.
As of the end of the reporting period, total assets were 132.76 billion yuan, up 5.75% from the start of the year; net assets attributable to parent company shareholders were 43.97 billion yuan, up 3.89% from the start of the year.
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