CBAT News & Events

The major averages closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ending lower despite earlier gains, as oil prices keep rising amid continued conflict in the Middle East. Of note, President Trump said the U.S. is in "serious discussions" with Iran to end its military operations. However, he added that if a peace deal is not reached "shortly" and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the U.S. will "conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'" The comments came after the president stated that Tehran had accepted most of the U.S.'s 15-point plan to end the war.Additionally, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said during a discussion at Harvard University that even with rising energy prices, he views inflation expectations as "well anchored beyond the short term." Powell added that he is "optimistic" about the medium- and long-run outlook for the U.S. economy and that the Fed is watching private credit "super carefully."Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:SyscoJetro Restaurant Depot for a total enterprise value of $29.1BUberglobal chauffeur service leader BlacklaneAuriniaKezar Life Sciencesfor $6.955 per share in cash plus a non-transferable contingent value rightTJX'sboard raised itsand said it plans $2.5B-$2.75B of share repurchases for FY27Apollois near a deal to acquire Atlantic Aviation from KKR,2. WALL STREET CALLS:CrowdStriketo Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe ResearchExpediato Buy from Hold at JefferiesInstacartto Buy from Hold at JefferiesDole, Nomad Foodsto Hold at Deutsche BankStarbuckswith an Underperform at BNP Paribas3. AROUND THE WEB:JetBluetold CNBC it is increasing bag fees amid soaring fuel pricesGeneral Motorsis moving to a six days per week production schedule at its Flint plant, Reuters saysBanks led by JPMorganare dealing with pushback related to the terms of a $7.2B debt deal to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's takeover of Sealed Air, Bloomberg reportsYouTubeemployees have admitted their goal was "viewer addiction" and shut down proposed safety tools for kids since they did not provide a sufficient return on investment, NY Post saysAn analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions by consumer transaction analysis company Indagari indicates that Claude is seeing record growth in paid subscribers, with subscriptions more than doubling this year according to Anthropic, TechCrunch says4. MOVERS:Compass Diversifiedadvanced after announcing it willto Archer for $292.5MiQiyigained in New York afteron HKEXViridiandeclined after announcing results from itsFermiclosed lower afterBoston Scientificfell after Raymond Jamesits rating on the stock5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Alaska AirprovidedUSA Rare Earth, with CEO Barbara Humpton commenting, "2025 was the year that USA Rare Earth set the foundation to execute our integrated rare earth growth strategy"Spirecut itsNeumora Therapeutics, with EPS missing consensusCBAK Energy Technology, with revenue higher year-over-yearINDEXES:The Dow rose 49.50, or 0.11%, to 45,216.14, the Nasdaq lost 153.72, or 0.73%, to 20,794.64, and the S&P 500 declined 25.13, or 0.39%, to 6,343.72.

The major averages were broadly higher near noon to start the week following last week's declines. Amid continued conflict in the Middle East and rising energy prices, President Trump said the U.S. is in "serious discussions" with Iran to end its military operations. However, he added that if a peace deal is not reached "shortly" and the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, the U.S. will "conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'" Following the comments, oil prices are rising once again past the $100 per barrel mark.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:SyscoJetro Restaurant Depot for a total enterprise value of $29.1BUberglobal chauffeur service leader BlacklaneAuriniaKezar Life Sciencesfor $6.955 per share in cash plus a non-transferable contingent value rightSpirewill sell itsto Boardwalk Pipelines for $215M in cashTJX'sboard raised itsand said it plans $2.5B-$2.75B of share repurchases for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:CrowdStriketo Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe ResearchExpediato Buy from Hold at JefferiesInstacartto Buy from Hold at JefferiesDole, Nomad Foodsto Hold at Deutsche BankStarbuckswith an Underperform at BNP Paribas3. AROUND THE WEB:In a recently published report, Morpheus Research says that MakeMyTrip, a $3.5B online travel agency that is sometimes referred to as the "Booking.com of India" with 50% of the Indian OTA market, "openly defies regulators, scams customers, and pads profits through accounting tricksBanks led by JPMorganare dealing with pushback related to the terms of a $7.2B debt deal to fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's takeover of Sealed Air, Bloomberg reportsYouTubeemployees have admitted their goal was "viewer addiction" and shut down proposed safety tools for kids since they did not provide a sufficient return on investment, NY Post saysIQM Quantum Computers has secured $57.64M in venture financing from funds managed by BlackRockto accelerate growth, Reuters saysAn analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions by consumer transaction analysis company Indagari indicates that Claude is seeing record growth in paid subscribers, with subscriptions more than doubling this year according to Anthropic, TechCrunch says4. MOVERS:Compass Diversifiedincreases after announcing it willbusiness to Archer for $292.5MiQiyigains in New York afteron HKEXViridiandeclines after announcing results from its REVEAL-1 phase 3Fermilower afterBoston Scientificfalls after Raymond Jamesits rating on the stock to Outperform from Strong Buy5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Alaska AirUSA Rare Earth, with CEO Barbara Humpton commenting, "2025 was the year that USA Rare Earth set the foundation to execute our integrated rare earth growth strategy"Spirefor FY27Neumora Therapeutics, with EPS missing consensusCBAK Energy Technology, with revenue higher year-over-yearINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was up 0.88%, or 395.42, to 45,562.06, the Nasdaq was up 0.29%, or 60.40, to 21,008.76, and the S&P 500 was up 0.48%, or 30.52, to 6,399.37.

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $4.28M, representing a gross margin of 7.3%, compared to a gross profit of $3.31M and a margin of 13.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024. The sharp margin compression in Q4 2025 was fundamentally driven by the intensive transitional period at both Dalian and Nanjing. The friction costs, sub-optimal yields, and disproportionately high fixed-cost absorption inherent to the initial ramp-up phase of the new Model 40135 and Phase II Model 32140 production lines heavily burdened the quarterly gross margin. Zhiguang Hu, CEO of CBAK Energy, commented, "The fiscal year 2025 was a definitive transitional period for CBAK Energy, characterized by a comprehensive structural upgrade of our product portfolio and a deliberate pivot toward next-generation form factors. At our Dalian facility, our customers are actively transitioning from our legacy 26-series batteries-a product line with over a decade of history-to our newly introduced, highly advanced Model 40135 cells. To support this, we successfully commissioned a new 40135 production line with a 2.3 GWh capacity at the end of 2025. The market reception has been unprecedented; demand for the 40135 cells currently far exceeds our available supply, and our order book heavily outpaces our current ramp-up trajectory. While the initial capacity ramp-up phase inherently carries higher unit costs that have temporarily suppressed our gross margins and short-term profitability, this is a necessary and highly strategic investment. As our customers complete their transition to the Model 40135 throughout 2026 and 2027, we anticipate a dramatic and sustained resurgence in both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability. Importantly, we have proactively engineered a strategic response to the impending phase-out of the PRC's export tax rebate policy for lithium-ion batteries-which reduces rebates to 6% in 2026 and zeroes out by 2027. By officially establishing our Malaysian manufacturing subsidiary in April 2025, we are constructing an unassailable overseas supply chain firewall. This strategic maneuver ensures that our expanding international margins will remain completely insulated from domestic tariff dynamics, cementing our competitive superiority on the global stage."

CBAK Energy Technology announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dalian CBAK Power Battery has completed its product portfolio upgrade and commenced operation of a new production line for its Model 40135 battery. The Model 40135 features a larger size and higher capacity compared to the Company's current best-selling and flagship product, Model 32140.