ABAT Hits $21.7 Million Revenue and Its First Gross Profit
American Battery Technology reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $21.7 million, up 400%, and its first positive adjusted gross profit. Shares traded at 2.35, up 0.86%, on Sept. 22.
American Battery Technology Co (ABAT) told investors on its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call that revenue rose 400% to $21.7 million for fiscal 2026 and that the company recorded its first-ever positive adjusted gross profit.
American Battery Technology Co (ABAT) used its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call to put two numbers in front of investors that it has never been able to show before: annual revenue of $21.7 million, a 400% increase over the prior fiscal year, and a positive adjusted gross profit — the first in the company's history.
For a development-stage battery recycler, those are the two milestones that matter most, and in that order. Revenue proves the plant runs. Gross profit proves the material coming out the back end is worth more than the material and energy going in the front. Until this year, American Battery Technology could claim neither.
What a 400% increase actually implies
Work backwards from the reported figure and the scale of the starting point becomes clear. A 400% increase means revenue is five times what it was: on an illustrative basis, $21.7 million divided by five implies a prior-year base of roughly $4.3 million. That is the arithmetic of a facility moving from commissioning into something resembling continuous operation, not the arithmetic of a mature processor gaining share.
It also sets the bar for what counts as progress next year. Percentage growth of that magnitude flatters a small base and becomes far harder to repeat once the denominator has multiplied. Investors reading the fiscal 2027 print should watch absolute dollars and throughput rather than the growth rate, which will almost certainly decelerate even if the business is performing well.
Why the gross profit line is the real event
Lithium-ion battery recycling has a structural problem that has humbled better-capitalised operators: the economics are hostage to the metals. Recyclers buy or are paid to take end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap, break them down, and sell back nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper in usable form. When metal prices are strong, the spread is generous. When they are weak, the processing cost — labour, reagents, power, shipping — can exceed what the output fetches, and every additional ton processed deepens the loss.
That is why a first positive adjusted gross profit carries more weight than the revenue headline. It says the unit economics crossed zero at current operating rates and current metal pricing. The word doing quiet work there is "adjusted." Adjusted gross profit typically strips out non-cash items such as depreciation on the plant itself, so it is not the same as generating cash after the capital that built the facility. The distinction matters for a company whose asset base is heavy and whose depreciation schedule runs for years.
The detail of the earnings call was reported by GuruFocus.
The share price is not celebrating yet
American Battery Technology traded at 2.35 as of 14:07 GMT on Sept. 22, up 0.86% on the day from a previous close of 2.33, inside a session range of 2.31 to 2.37. That is a muted response to a set of firsts, and it reads as a market that wants another quarter or two of the same before repricing the story.
The broad tape offered little help or hindrance. The S&P 500 proxy SPY sat at $774.06, up 0.07%, while the Nasdaq 100 proxy QQQ was at $744.76, up 0.44%, and the Dow tracker DIA slipped 0.08% to $519.38. In other words, the move in ABAT was its own, not a beta effect — and it was small.
In other words, the move in ABAT was its own, not a beta effect — and it was small.
Low-priced industrial names with long capital-spending runways tend to trade on financing risk rather than on income-statement milestones. A recycler that has just reached break-even at the gross line is still a long way from funding its own growth. Every incremental ton of capacity has to be paid for by someone, and at a share price near the bottom of the single digits, equity issuance is an expensive way to do it.
The questions the next four quarters have to answer
Three things will decide whether fiscal 2026 was an inflection or a good year in a cyclical business:
- Repeatability. Does adjusted gross profit stay positive in a quarter when metal prices are less cooperative? One positive year established the possibility; a second establishes the floor.
- Feedstock supply. Recyclers compete for end-of-life packs and gigafactory scrap, and the volume available is tied to how many batteries were built and sold years earlier. Secure, contracted feedstock at a predictable price is worth more than any single quarter of revenue.
- Cash burn versus the gross line. Positive adjusted gross profit does not pay corporate overhead, interest, or the next tranche of construction. The gap between gross profit and cash used in operations is the number that determines how often the company has to return to the capital markets.
There is a wider context worth holding alongside the results. Western governments have spent several years trying to build a domestic supply chain for battery metals that does not depend on refining capacity concentrated overseas. Recycling is the cheapest available piece of that puzzle, because the metal is already inside the country and already refined once. Policy tailwinds of that kind can be real, but they show up in permits, offtake agreements and grants rather than in a single revenue line — and they do not substitute for unit economics that work without them.
How to read the print without over-reading it
The honest summary is that American Battery Technology cleared two thresholds it had never cleared before, and the stock moved less than a percent. Both facts can be true. A company that quintuples revenue off a small base and turns its first adjusted gross profit has demonstrated that the plant works and that the spread can be positive. It has not yet demonstrated that the spread is durable, that the growth can be funded without diluting existing holders, or that operating cash flow is anywhere near positive.
For shareholders, the useful discipline is to track the same two lines next quarter and ask whether they moved in the same direction together. Revenue rising while gross profit slips back below zero would mean the company is buying volume. Both rising together, at a slower growth rate, would be the better outcome — and the one the current share price is plainly not assuming.
Key facts
- Ticker and price: ABAT — 2.35, +0.86%, as of 14:07 GMT Sept. 22, 2026
- Fiscal 2026 revenue: $21.7 million, up 400% year over year
- Profitability milestone: First-ever positive adjusted gross profit
- Session range: 2.31–2.37, previous close 2.33
Frequently asked questions
How much revenue did American Battery Technology report for fiscal 2026?
The company reported revenue of $21.7 million for fiscal year 2026, a 400% increase over the prior fiscal year. The figure was disclosed on its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call. A 400% increase means revenue was five times the prior-year level, implying a starting base of roughly $4.3 million on an illustrative basis.
What is adjusted gross profit and why does it matter here?
Adjusted gross profit is revenue less the direct costs of production, with certain items — typically non-cash charges such as depreciation — excluded. For a recycler it shows whether the metals recovered are worth more than the inputs and processing cost. American Battery Technology reported its first-ever positive adjusted gross profit in fiscal 2026.
How did ABAT shares react to the results?
The reaction was modest. ABAT traded at 2.35 as of 14:07 GMT on Sept. 22, 2026, up 0.86% from a previous close of 2.33, within a session range of 2.31 to 2.37. That is a small move for a company reporting two first-time financial milestones.
Does positive adjusted gross profit mean the company is profitable?
No. Gross profit sits near the top of the income statement, before corporate overhead, research spending, interest expense and depreciation on the plant. A company can post positive adjusted gross profit and still record a net loss and negative operating cash flow. It is a step toward profitability, not profitability itself.
What drives battery recycling economics?
The spread between what a recycler pays for end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap and what it receives for recovered nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper, less processing costs such as labour, reagents, power and shipping. When metal prices fall, that spread can turn negative, which is why sustained positive gross profit is the key test.
What should investors watch in the next reporting period?
Three things: whether adjusted gross profit stays positive through a weaker metals market, whether feedstock supply is contracted and predictable, and how large the gap remains between gross profit and cash used in operations. That last gap determines how often the company needs to raise capital.
