On September 14, American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ:ABAT) held its fiscal year 2026 earnings call, and for once the numbers matched the ambition. Revenue at its flagship recycling facility jumped more than 400% to $21.7 million, and the company posted its first-ever adjusted gross profit. But on the same call, CEO Ryan Melsert disclosed a federal directive that could choke off exports of one of the plant's key products, black mass, a reminder that ABAT's fortunes are still tied tightly to Washington.
Revenue jumped over 400% year over year to $21.7 million, fueled by higher throughput at the company's first recycling facility and increased sales of byproducts. Cost of goods sold rose only 67% over the same stretch, evidence that fixed costs are spreading across a much bigger volume of material. Even more telling, operating cash spend actually fell 16% even as throughput at the plant more than quadrupled. That combination pushed American Battery Technology to an adjusted gross profit of $1.7 million, a sharp turnaround from the $6.2 million loss it posted a year earlier.
The balance sheet tells a similar story. Cash climbed to $49.5 million as of June 30, 2026, and total ***** ets reached $133 million, up sharply from the prior year. The company also erased all of its long-term debt during the year, leaving it with a clean balance sheet heading into a period of heavy capital spending.
Growth plans are already in motion. A second recycling facility planned for the Southeast U.S., designed to process 100,000 tons of batteries a year, is backed by a $150 million grant from the Department of Energy, and a separate $10 million DOE grant is funding three next-generation recycling technologies. On the mining side, the Bureau of Land Management certified the company's plan of operations for its Tonopah lithium project in Nevada, home to an identified 21.3 million tons of lithium hydroxide, including 2.7 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The project also won a FAST-41 priority designation, intended to speed up federal permitting.
The clearest risk surfaced on the call itself. The US Department of Commerce issued a directive that effectively bans the export of black mass, the concentrated metal byproduct of battery recycling, unless a company obtains a specific exception. American Battery Technology has submitted a request for that exception, but as of the call, Commerce had not issued a formal response, and the company is storing black mass at its facility in the meantime.
#company #recycling #black
Revenue jumped over 400% year over year to $21.7 million, fueled by higher throughput at the company's first recycling facility and increased sales of byproducts. Cost of goods sold rose only 67% over the same stretch, evidence that fixed costs are spreading across a much bigger volume of material. Even more telling, operating cash spend actually fell 16% even as throughput at the plant more than quadrupled. That combination pushed American Battery Technology to an adjusted gross profit of $1.7 million, a sharp turnaround from the $6.2 million loss it posted a year earlier.
The balance sheet tells a similar story. Cash climbed to $49.5 million as of June 30, 2026, and total ***** ets reached $133 million, up sharply from the prior year. The company also erased all of its long-term debt during the year, leaving it with a clean balance sheet heading into a period of heavy capital spending.
Growth plans are already in motion. A second recycling facility planned for the Southeast U.S., designed to process 100,000 tons of batteries a year, is backed by a $150 million grant from the Department of Energy, and a separate $10 million DOE grant is funding three next-generation recycling technologies. On the mining side, the Bureau of Land Management certified the company's plan of operations for its Tonopah lithium project in Nevada, home to an identified 21.3 million tons of lithium hydroxide, including 2.7 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The project also won a FAST-41 priority designation, intended to speed up federal permitting.
The clearest risk surfaced on the call itself. The US Department of Commerce issued a directive that effectively bans the export of black mass, the concentrated metal byproduct of battery recycling, unless a company obtains a specific exception. American Battery Technology has submitted a request for that exception, but as of the call, Commerce had not issued a formal response, and the company is storing black mass at its facility in the meantime.
#company #recycling #black
2 months ago
