Al Root

The world's largest electric-vehicle battery maker is raising money in Hong Kong, giving more investors access to its shares.

Contemporary Amperex Technology or CATL, filed updated paperwork with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to sell some 118 million shares at $263HKD apiece, raising about $31HKD billion ($4 billion).

The money will be used to build battery capacity in Europe.

The new shares should be trading on the Hong Kong exchange by May 20. The stock symbol will be "3750."

CATL is the largest EV battery maker in the world, supplying dozens of EV makers, including Tesla. Its global market share approaches 30%, according to SNE Research. LG Energy Solution, SK On, Samsung SDI, and Panasonic are the next four largest.

CATL already is publicly traded in China, trading under the code "300750." Its market value is roughly Yen1.1 trillion ($150 billion U.S.).

It's also profitable. Wall Street expects CATL to generate an operating profit of about $10.6 billion in 2025, according to FactSet. That's more than the $6.6 billion analysts project for Tesla. CATL's operating profit is also expected to grow at almost 15% a year, on average, for the coming three years.

CATL shares currently trade for about 17 times estimated 2025 earnings. They are covered by 38 analysts. All 38, or 100%, rate shares Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target for CATL stock is about Yen336, up 31% from recent levels.

Shares of BYD, China's largest EV maker, trade for about 20 times estimated 2025 earnings. Its market value is close to CATL at about $150 billion.

CATL stock was up 3.5% in overseas trading on Monday, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 3.1% and 2.4%, respectively. The offering isn't the most significant reason. Instead, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day pause on severe import tariffs, de-escalating their trade war and providing much relief to investors.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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May 12, 2025 07:32 ET (11:32 GMT)

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