On October 21, Nomura released a report stating that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) (03750.HK) missed expectations in its third-quarter performance. The firm maintained a "Buy" rating but lowered the target price from 632 yuan to 408 yuan. The report showed that CATL's third-quarter revenue increased by 59% year-on-year and 12% quarter-on-quarter, reaching 165 billion yuan, aligning with the trend in battery shipments. However, the gross margin declined by 5.1 percentage points year-on-year and 2.5 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 20.7%, primarily due to changes in revenue mix, with an increased share of domestic energy storage business. Net profit rose by 15% year-on-year but fell by 6% quarter-on-quarter to 21.2 billion yuan, with the net profit margin declining by 4.9 percentage points year-on-year and 2.4 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 12.9%. The company attributed this mainly to increased battery consumption taxes, reduced export VAT refunds, and higher asset impairment losses. Nomura believes that, in the long term, global battery demand remains resilient, primarily driven by rising electric vehicle penetration in Europe and other emerging markets, as well as strong growth in global energy storage demand fueled by energy security and AIDC deployment. Nomura expects global capacity expansion plans to proceed as scheduled.