Three lithium companies are the first to disclose their 2025 annual reports: Q4 performance significantly increased quarter-over-quarter, with gross profit divergence indicating resource control strength.

In 2025, lithium prices overall showed a “weak first, then strong” trend.

As the annual report season gets underway, three lithium companies—Rongjie Co., Ltd. (SZ002192, share price 81.98 yuan, market cap 21.3 billion yuan), Tianqi Lithium (SZ002466, share price 57.24 yuan, market cap 94.2 billion yuan), and Shengxin Lithium Energy (SZ002240, share price 42.08 yuan, market cap 38.5 billion yuan)—are the first to turn in their results in late March 2026.

Among them, after Rongjie released its results, capital rushed in and drove the stock higher. Last week (from March 23 to March 27), the company’s share price surged by more than 40%. A reporter from the Economic Daily News noted that Rongjie was being hotly pursued by capital because its 2025 lithium spodumene concentrate output surged 174.83% year over year. Its No. 134 vein of methyl carbonate spodumene located in Jiadian, Sichuan expanded significantly, becoming a core driving force behind the company’s performance growth.

Looking across the three annual reports, it can be seen that although lithium prices fluctuated dramatically throughout 2025, lithium companies generally saw performance recover in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the logic of “resource first” has not weakened after being tested by the cycle; instead, it has become the core strategy for companies’ 2026 deployments. On the demand side, energy storage has been mentioned repeatedly by lithium companies.

Common performance theme: The fourth quarter became the “decisive factor,” and gross margin diverged due to differences in resource endowments

Entering the annual report season, Rongjie Co., Ltd., Tianqi Lithium, and Shengxin Lithium Energy were among the first to disclose their 2025 annual reports recently. Judging from their performance, the lithium industry as a whole in 2025 displayed a “weak first, then strong” pattern, with the fourth quarter becoming the “decisive factor” for full-year performance.

In 2025, Rongjie Co., Ltd. achieved operating revenue of 840 million yuan, up 49.71% year over year; its net profit attributable to shareholders was 279 million yuan, up 29.52%. By quarter, the company’s performance improved quarter by quarter overall. In the fourth quarter alone, net profit attributable to shareholders was 135 million yuan, up 128.81% from 59 million yuan in the third quarter, accounting for nearly half of full-year net profit.

Tianqi Lithium, on the other hand, achieved a turnaround from adversity. In 2025, it generated operating revenue of 10.346 billion yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders was 463 million yuan. Compared with the loss of 7.905 billion yuan in 2024, it successfully returned to profitability. Of note, in the fourth quarter alone, net profit attributable to shareholders was 283 million yuan, up nearly 200% quarter over quarter, showing clear signs of performance recovery.

By contrast, although Shengxin Lithium Energy remained in a loss in 2025, the loss narrowed compared with 2024. Meanwhile, fourth-quarter revenue surged to 1.970 billion yuan, up 33% quarter over quarter, demonstrating a strong trend of business rebound.

Regarding product gross margins, the three companies showed clear differences in resource endowments. “Mineral producers” with upstream mine resources had gross margins significantly higher than processing companies that rely purely on purchased raw materials.

Tianqi Lithium benefits from the controlled Greenbush lithium spodumene mine with lower global costs; the gross margin of its lithium mine products was 52.88%. Rongjie Co., Ltd. also benefited from its own mines: the gross margin of its lithium spodumene concentrate was 53.12%, up significantly year over year. Shengxin Lithium Energy, which mainly processes lithium salts, bore heavier cost pressure. Its gross margin on lithium products was 18.35%, a clear gap versus the other two.

In terms of such industry volatility, lithium companies’ annual reports mentioned that in 2025, the price trend of lithium products was “weak first, then strong.” In the first half of the year, prices declined in a one-way move, and battery-grade lithium carbonate at one point fell below 60,000 yuan/ton. In the second half, driven by multiple factors such as the explosion in energy storage demand and tightening on the supply side, prices bottomed out and rebounded.

The “resource first” logic remains unchanged, and energy storage on the demand side is highlighted

The reporter noted that the three annual reports all, independently and simultaneously, placed “resources” at the top, indicating lithium companies’ shared consensus that “they have mines in hand.”

In its 2026 operating plan, Tianqi Lithium clearly stated: “Strengthen the stability and sustainability of upstream lithium resource development and utilization, and further enhance governance and control over the Greenbush lithium spodumene mine project.”

At the same time, the company will “actively and in an orderly manner advance” related work on the Yajiang Cuozuo lithium spodumene mining and processing project. In the future, the project will form “dual domestic and overseas resource assurance” together with the Greenbush mine. It is reported that Yajiang Cuozuo is located in the Methyl K a area, which is rich in lithium resources in China.

Shengxin Lithium Energy directly increases control over resources through capital operations. In 2025, the company completed its acquisition of Sichuan Qicheng Mining Co., Ltd., thereby indirectly controlling Hu绒 Mining, which holds the Yirong lithium mine. The annual report points out that the Yirong lithium mine has confirmed LiO resources of 9.896 million tons, with an average grade of 1.62%. It is one of the lithium mines in Sichuan with the highest grades, and the mine’s designed production scale is 3 million tons per year. In addition, benefiting from economies of scale brought by large-scale development and its excellent resource endowments, the Yirong lithium mine is expected to keep production costs at a relatively low level within the industry.

Rongjie Co., Ltd. also strengthened the resource end. Its 2025 lithium spodumene concentrate output increased 174.83% year over year. The company’s 2026 operating plan explicitly includes: “continuously improve the output scale of lithium resources, and further consolidate the foundation for industrial chain development,” as well as “actively coordinate matters related to the addition of 350,000 tons/year of mineral processing capacity at the mine’s original site.” According to the company’s 2025 annual report, this expansion initiative made progress in December 2024. Rongda Lithium and the government of Kangding City signed an agreement, stipulating that 350,000 tons/year of mineral processing capacity would be added at the mine’s original site. The company is currently preparing related work.

As for the specific goals for 2026, all three companies show an expansion posture. Tianqi Lithium’s Greenbush chemical-grade lithium spodumene concentrate plant No. 3 is set to produce its first batch of products in January 2026, and plans to complete capacity ramp-up within the year. Shengxin Lithium Energy will focus on promoting the capacity release of its 60,000-ton lithium salt project in Indonesia, and will do its utmost to accelerate the development and construction of the Yirong lithium mine, “achieving a substantial incremental increase in lithium mine resource supply as soon as possible.” Rongjie Co., Ltd. meanwhile plans for its cathode materials project to achieve mass production in the second half of 2026, and will steadily advance its Lanzhou anode materials project.

From the perspective of industry analysts, one of the key drivers behind the strong rebound in lithium prices in the second half of 2025 is the surge in energy storage demand.

Regarding the current market situation, an unnamed chief industry analyst told reporters: “In the second quarter this year, the market logic is relatively clear, and the relationship between energy storage and lithium prices has strengthened. The ability of energy storage to withstand lithium prices mainly depends on the difficulty of implementing price passing-through. Based on current indications, energy storage’s ability to withstand is higher than at the beginning of the year during market trading. But fundamentally, under high lithium prices, the economics of energy storage will certainly be worse—it’s just that in the second quarter’s market, this issue can be set aside for now.”

This assessment aligns with the industry outlook mentioned in the annual reports. Tianqi Lithium cited data showing that in 2025, global energy storage battery shipments grew 76.2% year over year. Energy storage has become a new engine driving growth in lithium demand. Rongjie Co., Ltd. also pointed out that in 2025, the energy storage lithium battery market experienced explosive growth, and Chinese companies occupied a dominant position globally.

Overall, the three lithium companies’ 2025 annual reports reveal that after experiencing severe price volatility, the lithium industry is entering a differentiated era driven by both “resources” and “demand.” Companies with strong upstream resource endowments have risk resistance and profitability that are clearly superior to pure processing companies. Meanwhile, at the terminal, energy storage as a new growth pole is reshaping the industry’s supply-demand landscape.

As each company’s 2026 capacity expansion and resource development plans are implemented, competition in the lithium industry will shift from a simple contest of capacity expansion to a full-scale battle over control of core mineral resources.

（Source: Economic Daily News）