SES AI Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

SES AI’s second-quarter revenue rose more than 40% year over year to $5.1 million , and the company reaffirmed full-year guidance of $30 million to $35 million. Gross margin improved to 22.6%, although the net loss widened to $17.8 million and adjusted EBITDA remained negative. The company expects its Korea facility’s NDAA-compliant drone-cell production to reach an annualized 1 million cells in the fourth quarter, supporting meaningful drone revenue late this year and accelerating growth in the first half of 2027. SES also signed an agreement to develop the battery pack for Doroni’s H1-X eVTOL aircraft. SES is expanding its energy-storage and AI strategy through Sol-Ark certification for UZ Energy residential batteries and the launch of Molecular Universe 3.0, which integrates materials discovery with autonomous laboratories. Management also sees potential growth in larger-scale data-center energy-storage applications.

SES AI NYSE: SES reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $5.1 million, up more than 40% from $3.5 million in the prior-year quarter, while reaffirming full-year revenue guidance of $30 million to $35 million. The company said revenue during the quarter included contributions from its energy storage systems, drone battery cells, materials and Molecular Universe artificial-intelligence platform for the first time. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Qichao Hu said the company’s strategy centers on using AI to accelerate materials development while building manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities for energy-storage products. SES previously focused on electric vehicles but shifted more than a year ago toward energy storage systems, drones and unmanned applications.

SES reported GAAP gross margin of 22.6% for the second quarter, compared with 18.1% in the first quarter. Chief Financial Officer Ray Liu attributed the improvement primarily to the energy storage systems, or ESS, business, including a higher mix of international sales and pricing discipline. Revenue declined sequentially from $6.7 million in the first quarter, though Liu said the company expects drone and materials revenue to increase in the second half while ESS remains more than half of total revenue. ESS represented more than 70% of first-half revenue, he said.

SES posted a GAAP net loss of $17.8 million, or $0.05 per share, compared with a $12.1 million loss, or $0.04 per share, in the first quarter. Operating expenses were $20.3 million, up from $19.1 million sequentially, primarily because of a bad-debt provision related to a legacy EV service contract. Operating expenses were down 26% from a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding items including changes in sponsor earnout liabilities, stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, SES reported a net loss of $13.1 million, or $0.04 per share, versus a $11.1 million loss in the first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $14.6 million, compared with a $12.8 million loss in the prior quarter. The company ended the quarter with approximately $163 million in cash equivalents and short-term investments. Liu said SES expects losses to narrow during the second half as revenue rises and its cost-reduction program takes fuller effect.

SES said Sol-Ark, a U.S.-based FCC-authorized inverter producer, certified subsidiary UZ Energy’s low-voltage residential batteries for use with its hybrid inverter systems. Hu said the certification could support U.S. growth, particularly amid restrictions affecting some for...