Solid Power Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Manufacturing pilot line remains on schedule: Solid Power said its continuous electrolyte production line has all major equipment installed, with commissioning planned for the fourth quarter and initial output expected in the first quarter of 2027 at a fully commissioned capacity of 45 metric tons.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company reported progress with Samsung SDI and BMW, including improved electrolyte performance and quality, and expects collaboration with both companies to continue after the current phase-one agreements expire in September.
  • Positive Sentiment: Solid Power remains confident it will announce a South Korean electrolyte-production joint venture by year-end, citing three active discussions and one prospective partner with a draft term sheet under review. It also completed a line-installation agreement milestone with SK On and is negotiating a new collaboration.
  • Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue was negative $300,000 after a noncash $1.2 million reversal tied to changed assumptions for SK On milestone payments; operating expenses were $30 million, producing a $23.8 million net loss, or $0.11 per share.
  • Positive Sentiment: The company ended the quarter with $419.3 million in liquidity, no debt, and $3.2 million in contract assets and receivables, providing substantial funding to pursue commercialization, customer programs, and manufacturing scale-up.
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Earnings Conference Call
Solid Power Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

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Operator

Good day. Welcome to the Solid Power Q2 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Charlie Van Goetz, investor relations. Please go ahead.

Charlie Van Goetz
Charlie Van Goetz
Head of Investor Relations at Solid Power

Thank you, operator. Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I'm joined on today's call by Solid Power's President and Chief Executive Officer, John Van Scoter, and Chief Financial Officer, Linda Heller. A copy of today's earnings release is available on the investor relations section of Solid Power's website, www.solidpowerbattery.com. I'd like to remind you that parts of our discussion today will include forward-looking statements as defined by U.S. securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Solid Power disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Charlie Van Goetz
Charlie Van Goetz
Head of Investor Relations at Solid Power

For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in today's forward-looking statements, please see Solid Power's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be found on the company's website at www.solidpowerbattery.com. With that, let me turn it over to John Van Scoter.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Thank you, Charlie. Thank you all for joining us today. We delivered another quarter of strong execution, advancing key strategic initiatives and reinforcing our position as a leader in solid-state battery materials. During the quarter, we improved the performance of our electrolyte through work under the joint evaluation agreement with Samsung SDI and BMW while providing electrolyte shipments to support their development activities. Based on performance and cost, we are optimistic about continuing to work with Samsung SDI for potential use of our electrolyte in EVs and other potential applications of ASSB technologies. We remain committed to supporting our partners as they advance towards commercialization. Turning to our electrolyte manufacturing roadmap, we continued to advance discussions with prospective joint venture partners for commercial scale electrolyte production in South Korea.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Korea remains one of the most active markets for all solid-state battery development, we believe a partnership with an industry-leading company would accelerate market adoption while providing manufacturing scale and market access. We're pleased with the progress of these discussions and believe they reflect growing industry interest in our technology and commercialization strategy. Based on the progress we've made to date, we remain on track and expect to announce a joint venture by the end of the year. Execution of our continuous manufacturing pilot line remains on schedule and represents one of the most important milestones in our commercialization journey. During the quarter, we advanced installation of major process equipment, piping, and electrical infrastructure, are preparing for equipment acceptance testing, which remains on track for completion in the Q3. We continue to expect plant validation and operational startup in the Q4.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

This pilot line is designed to demonstrate the scalability and efficiency of our proprietary wet process technology and positions us in the transition from batch to continuous production, an important step towards commercial scale manufacturing. Operational excellence remains a core priority as we prepare for commercial readiness. During the quarter, we successfully completed stage one of our ISO 9001 certification process and remain on track to complete the stage two audit in the Q3, with certification expected by year-end. Achieving ISO 9001 certification will further enhance our quality systems, strengthen customer confidence, and support the commercial readiness of our electrolyte business. Finally, we successfully completed the line installation agreement with SK On and received the associated milestone payment during the quarter. This accomplishment represents another successful milestone in our collaboration and highlights our ability to execute key customer commitments while supporting the advancement of next generation battery technologies.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

We're currently negotiating with SK On regarding a new collaboration agreement, which we believe underscores the growing demand for our technology and reflects our continued commitment to expanding strategic partnerships that drive long-term value. Overall, we are pleased with the progress achieved during the quarter. We continue to execute against our commercialization roadmap across our customer programs, manufacturing scale-up initiatives, strategic partnership discussions, and operational readiness efforts. We believe the momentum we are building today positions Solid Power to capitalize on the significant opportunities emerging within the all solid-state battery market and create long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I'll turn it over to Linda to review our financial results and provide an update on our financial discipline goal. Linda?

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

Thank you, John. Year-to-date revenue totals $2.8 million, reflecting our ongoing progress under the U.S. Department of Energy Assistance Agreement and revenue from our collaboration agreements with SK On. During the Q2 of 2026, our revenue was negative $300,000. Current quarter revenue was impacted by a reversal of revenue from the Q1 of $1.2 million, driven by a change in our assumptions within certain milestone payments connected to our SK On research and development license agreement. As we continue advancing our commercialization initiatives, operating expenses were $30 million during the Q2, compared to $29.4 million in the Q1 of 2026. Expenses remained well controlled and are generally consistent quarter-over-quarter, despite continued investments in technology development, customer programs, and manufacturing scale-up activities.

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

Operating loss for the quarter was $30.3 million, and net loss was $23.8 million or $0.11 per share, reflecting our continued investment in long-term growth opportunities and commercialization readiness. Capital expenditures totaled $6.3 million during the quarter, primarily related to construction of our new continuous electrolyte production pilot line. This strategic investment remains an important milestone in our manufacturing roadmap and is expected to play a key role in demonstrating our scalable, commercial-ready production capabilities. Turning to our balance sheet and liquidity, Solid Power's financial position remains a significant strength. We ended the quarter with total liquidity of $419.3 million, providing substantial financial flexibility and significant runway to execute our strategic priorities. In addition, contract assets and accounts receivable totaled $3.2 million, total current liabilities were $17.2 million. We continue to have no debt, reflecting a healthy balance sheet and a strong liquidity profile.

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

Overall, we remain focused on disciplined capital allocation while continuing to invest in strategic initiatives that support long-term growth. We believe our strong balance sheet provides financial capability to execute our commercialization strategy and support our customers' development programs. I will now turn the call back to John.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Thank you, Linda. In closing, I want to thank our employees, customers, partners, and shareholders for their continued support and confidence in Solid Power. The progress we've achieved this quarter reflects the strength of our team, the value of our technology, and our disciplined focus on execution. As we look ahead, we are entering an important phase of our commercialization journey. With strong customer and partner engagement, continued advancement of our manufacturing capabilities, a robust balance sheet, and growing commercial opportunities, we believe Solid Power is well-positioned to deliver meaningful milestones and create long-term value.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

While there is still important work ahead, we are encouraged by the momentum we are building and remain confident in our ability to execute against our strategy and advance the adoption of all solid-state battery technology. Thank you for your time today. We look forward to updating you on our continued progress in the quarters ahead.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

We will now take your questions. Operator?

Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. The first question comes from Jake Sekelsky with Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.

Jake Sekelsky
Jake Sekelsky
Managing Director at Alliance Global Partners

Hi, John and Linda. Thanks for taking my questions. Just starting with the continuous line, are there any major items you're still waiting on delivery of? How should we think about the ramp-up there to capacity in the coming quarters?

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Good to hear from you, Jake. Thank you for your question. We do not have any major equipment outstanding. The last major piece was installed. It's the rotary kiln. That was done in the May timeframe. All equipment is in-house and is in the process of being commissioned or hooked up, I should say. Then commissioning, as we have indicated, will start in the Q4 to be completed by the end of the year. The capacity for that one line is 45 metric tons once it is fully commissioned, and we expect to output from that line in the Q1 of next year.

Jake Sekelsky
Jake Sekelsky
Managing Director at Alliance Global Partners

Okay. That's helpful. In switching gears to the ISO certification, you touched on it earlier. Can you just provide some color on the progress here and maybe the specific steps or milestones you need to reach by year-end to kind of achieve that target for phase II?

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Sure. We started preparing for this audit beginning of last year, believe it or not, the team assembled all of the outstanding specifications, work processes, and so forth that we needed to put in place in time for the stage one audit. As reported, we completed that one-day audit in the quarter. It was very successful. There were no major findings. There's some minor things that we're following up on. We're getting ready for, in the middle of this month, the stage two, which is a much more intense audit. It's a three-day audit. We'll have all of the subject matter experts and process owners that will be available those three days with the auditor. It's quite intense, but we're getting ready for that.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Because there are no major findings in the stage one, we feel quite confident that anything that is called out in that stage two, that we will have time before the end of the year to complete those items, report those back to the auditor, and get the certification.

Jake Sekelsky
Jake Sekelsky
Managing Director at Alliance Global Partners

Understood. Okay. Then just lastly, on the new collaboration agreement that you're exploring with SK On, to the extent you're able to, are you able to provide any details on what the framework of a new collaboration agreement might look like at this stage, or is it a bit too early there?

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Yeah. Jake, I'm sorry. I wish I could report out more. I really can't right now. It's still early stages. I think next quarter we'll be able to give you some more color on that, and certainly by the time we get the agreement in place, we'll be able to give you details on that. Right now, it's really in the very early stages of discussions.

Jake Sekelsky
Jake Sekelsky
Managing Director at Alliance Global Partners

Fair enough. I figured I'd try. I'll hop back in queue. Thanks again.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Thanks, Jake.

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Sameer Joshi with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Sameer Joshi
Sameer Joshi
Analyst at H.C. Wainwright

Hey, good afternoon John, Linda, Charlie. Thanks for taking my questions.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Good afternoon.

Sameer Joshi
Sameer Joshi
Analyst at H.C. Wainwright

Hey, good afternoon. On the joint evaluation agreements with Samsung SDI and BMW, are there any next steps that we should expect in this year and then in the future? If you can just lay out what we should be looking out for, it would be helpful.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Yeah. As reported, Sameer, we expect that the original phase one contract will expire at the end of September, but that we will continue to collaborate with both parties as we go forward. We are in the process of discussing what that will look like right now with both parties. We expect based on the significant performance enhancements, quality enhancements that we achieved in phase I, along with the long-term cost road map that we have with our wet process, that we'll find a way to continue to collaborate, and to work with both Samsung SDI and BMW on an ongoing basis.

Sameer Joshi
Sameer Joshi
Analyst at H.C. Wainwright

Okay, thanks. On the electrolyte production partnership that you're looking for in the Republic of Korea, you have indicated that you would achieve it by the end of the year, what gives you confidence? If you could provide some color how we can get that confidence as well.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

We have three parties that we've been actively discussing with for some time. Signs from all three of them remain positive. One of them we've advanced, though, quite far along with the draft term sheet actually that is in discussion right now with one of the parties. That's what gives us the confidence that we'll have something done here in the short term and certainly by the end of the year.

Sameer Joshi
Sameer Joshi
Analyst at H.C. Wainwright

Sounds really good. Thanks. The just last one. We understand the reversal of certain revenues because of recognition issues. Was there any direct costs also that were associated with these that were reversed and that are reflected in the income statement?

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

No. The revenue under these agreements is recognized over the contractual term of all three agreements in a revenue recognition model. The adjustment that we made is non-cash. It doesn't represent any sort of obligation or a cash outflow or any cost related to it.

Sameer Joshi
Sameer Joshi
Analyst at H.C. Wainwright

Got it. Thanks for that clarification. I'll step back in queue. Thanks.

Linda Heller
Linda Heller
CFO at Solid Power

Thank you.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Colin Rusch
Colin Rusch
Managing Director at Oppenheimer

Thanks so much, guys. Could you talk a little bit about how you're tracking performance of the material and cells as you move forward with these arrangements and what that can do for your cost profile?

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Sure. Good to hear from you, Colin. Yeah, as I think you know quite well, we're still in the early stages of cell design. Our customers are continuing to evolve their cell designs, their chemistries, their binders, their solvents. A lot of the work that has been done is around improving our performance in their chemistries, number one. Number two, we focus very heavily on quality, so lot-to-lot consistency and the tightness of certain specifications that are really, really important to our customers. Things like particle size, et cetera. Each customer seems to have their own requirement there. We're focused very heavily on controlling that and delivering to their expectations. Long-term cost, we believe we have a structural advantage with our wet process. We've done a lot of work through the joint venture work, partnership work with potential partners in Korea that have dry processes.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

We've been able to actually benchmark our long-term roadmap against an equivalent capacity output for a dry process. Again, we believe quite strongly that we have a structural advantage there. That would be my comments on the performance as well as long-term cost roadmap. We intend to be the cost leader as we go through our commercialization phase and on up into ramp.

Colin Rusch
Colin Rusch
Managing Director at Oppenheimer

Excellent. That's super helpful. Then I guess the second question is really around customer development in the U.S. and potential for manufacturing domestically as we see an increased level of regionalization around the battery space. Obviously you guys have multiple options and multiple opportunities internationally as well. Just curious about the development of domestic customers and what they're looking for from a production perspective.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Yeah. Six months ago, we started getting signals from the humanoid robotic companies, and since then, it's picked up quite considerably there. There's a number of U.S. players that are expressing interest in all solid-state batteries because the advantages in energy density, safety, and charge rate. I would say that some of those discussions are advancing with some of the leaders in the space right now domestically. We still do not see any domestic manufacturing of cells at that scale, but that could change with the coming quarters. We definitely have seen an uptick in humanoids since we last reported. We also have gotten a small amount of interest from defense and aerospace markets in the past quarter.

Colin Rusch
Colin Rusch
Managing Director at Oppenheimer

That's super helpful. Thanks so much, guys.

Operator

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to John Van Scoter for any closing remarks.

John Van Scoter
John Van Scoter
President and CEO at Solid Power

Thank you for joining the call today and for your interest in Solid Power. We look forward to updating you again next quarter.

Executives
    • Charlie Van Goetz
      Charlie Van Goetz
      Head of Investor Relations
    • John Van Scoter
      John Van Scoter
      President and CEO
    • Linda Heller
      Linda Heller
      CFO
Analysts