HK Stock Market Move | CALB (03931) surges over 6% in the morning. Citigroup points out that strong demand for ESS and EV batteries will support the company's high shipment volume growth.

CALB(03931) rose more than 6% in morning trading, with a 6.05% increase to HK$31.9 by the time the article was written, with a trading volume of HK$1.46 billion. On the news side, Citigroup's latest research report pointed out that against the backdrop of CALB's expansion of battery production capacity, strong demand for energy storage system (ESS) batteries and commercial electric vehicle (EV) batteries will support CALB's battery shipment volume growth in the fiscal years 2026 to 2027. Citigroup updated its forecast model after CALB announced its 2025 fiscal year performance and raised its profit forecast for the company's 2026 and 2027 fiscal years by 7% and 34% respectively, to RMB 28.35 billion and RMB 48.17 billion, mainly reflecting management's guidance and higher battery sales volume assumptions. JP Morgan believes that CALB's shipment volume in 2026 is expected to achieve strong growth, with management guiding for a full-year shipment volume of 180GWh, a 55% year-on-year increase, and potentially reaching 190-200GWh under optimistic scenarios. With new production capacity gradually coming online starting in the third quarter of 2026, shipment growth in 2027 is expected to exceed that of 2026. Based on the trend of the company's increasing market share and the logic of benefiting from high-end products, JP Morgan maintains its positive long-term outlook for CALB.