CATL's net profit is 72.2 billion yuan, taxes paid are 34.5 billion yuan, and average employee compensation is 200,000 yuan.

Relying solely on interest income and foreign exchange operations for a year, earning a net profit of 7.9 billion yuan, this level of profit is equivalent to the annual net profit of a top-tier city commercial bank. It’s not a financial giant that can achieve this, but the global leader in power batteries—CATL.

By 2025, CATL’s financial expenses are listed as -7.94 billion yuan. While others borrow money and pay interest, it holds nearly 400 billion yuan in cash, earning more from interest income than it spends, turning banks into its “employees.”

On the evening of March 9, CATL officially released its 2025 financial report: total revenue of 423.7 billion yuan, up 17% year-over-year; net profit attributable to parent company of 72.2 billion yuan, a significant increase of 42% year-over-year.

This means the company can earn nearly 2 billion yuan every day, with an income of over 2,290 yuan every second. Amid fierce price wars in the new energy vehicle industry, with many automakers barely making profits or even losing money on each vehicle sold, CATL’s profitability stands out.

How strong is its ability to generate cash? A simple comparison makes it clear: in 2025, CATL’s net profit of 72.2 billion yuan exceeded the combined profits of the 10 listed vehicle companies on the A-share market that had announced their earnings forecasts at that time.

While downstream automakers are still struggling in the quagmire of losses, CATL, upstream in the industry chain, has set new highs in gross margin and net margin in nearly five years, reaching 26.3% and 18.1%, respectively.

Supporting this impressive profit is its unshakable global market position. In 2025, CATL’s share of the global power battery market increased to 39.2%, maintaining the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, with overseas market share surpassing 30% for the first time.

The total lithium battery sales for the year reached 661 GWh, a 39% increase year-over-year, with a capacity utilization rate of 96.9%, and production lines operating at near full capacity.

The company’s asset scale is equally astonishing. By the end of 2025, CATL’s total assets approached 974.8 billion yuan, with cash and cash equivalents of 333.5 billion yuan, plus trading financial assets, totaling nearly 392.5 billion yuan.

Although total liabilities reached 603.8 billion yuan, interest-bearing debt is relatively low, mainly consisting of 160.3 billion yuan in accounts payable and 103.3 billion yuan in notes payable, reflecting its strong bargaining power over upstream suppliers.

In terms of business layout, power battery systems remain the core, contributing 316.5 billion yuan in revenue, accounting for 74.7% of total income; energy storage as a secondary growth driver generated 62.4 billion yuan, with gross margins even exceeding those of power batteries.

The company invested 22.1 billion yuan in R&D over the year, with over 90 billion yuan invested cumulatively over the past decade, building a deep moat through continuous technological innovation.

In 2025, CATL for the first time in its annual report defined itself as a “globally leading zero-carbon new energy technology company.” Its business scope has long extended beyond automotive: nearly 900 electric ships equipped with its batteries, its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft completing complex environment validation, and passenger car battery swap stations deployed in over 45 cities nationwide with more than 1,000 stations.

Meanwhile, the company announced a substantial dividend plan: a cash dividend of 69.57 yuan per 10 shares, with total annual cash dividends of about 36.1 billion yuan, accounting for half of net profit.

Since 2022, its cumulative dividends have approached 100 billion yuan. While distributing large dividends to shareholders, the company also plans to issue bonds not exceeding 40 billion yuan to optimize its debt structure.

A technology-driven manufacturing enterprise, yet with its massive cash reserves, has achieved financial returns comparable to financial institutions.

As batteries become the “oil” of the new era, CATL, which controls core technologies, is reshaping the profit distribution rules across the entire industry chain.

Whether this is an inevitable sign of industry progress or a business phenomenon that industry players need to reconsider is a question worth pondering.