SES AI Completes Chungju Drone-Cell Ramp

The Tip Desk · November 12, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter revenue was $6.6 million, up 31% from the second quarter, as the company reiterated a $30 million to $35 million full-year 2026 outlook.

SES AI Corporation (SES), a maker of lithium batteries for drones and unmanned systems, completed the ramp of its Chungju, Korea line to an installed capacity of 1 million NDAA-compliant cells per year in the third quarter, and said the plant has been producing and delivering cells since early October.

Third-quarter revenue was $6.6 million, up 31% from $5.1 million in the second quarter. GAAP net loss narrowed to $13.4 million, or $0.04 a share, from $17.9 million, or $0.05 a share, in the second quarter. The company reiterated its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of $30 million to $35 million.

Energy storage remained the largest source of revenue, contributing approximately 47% of the quarter’s sales, with the balance from materials and, to a lesser extent, drone cell samples. GAAP gross margin compressed to 4.9% from 22.6% in the second quarter, which the company attributed primarily to lower-margin sales of older energy storage hardware inventory as the ESS team upgrades from the 5 kWh product to 16 kWh units.

GAAP operating expenses fell to $18.7 million from $20.3 million in the second quarter, a decrease of about 8%. Adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $12.0 million from $14.6 million. The third quarter included non-cash gains of $1.8 million from the change in fair value of Sponsor Earn-Out liabilities and $2.2 million from the change in fair value of deferred consideration related to the UZ Energy acquisition. Excluding the change in fair value of Sponsor Earn-Out liabilities, stock-based compensation, and depreciation and amortization, and including interest income, non-GAAP net loss was $10.7 million, or $0.03 a share.

The Chungju plant earned ISO 9001 certification for NDAA-compliant drone cells. The company said it has secured purchase orders from multiple participants and winners of the U.S. government’s Drone Dominance Program Gauntlet challenge and has more than 50 drone makers and pack integrators in its pipeline seeking NDAA cells. Since the line began scaled production in October, SES said it expects a more meaningful revenue contribution from the drone business starting in the fourth quarter as sample orders convert into mass-production purchase orders.

Customer discussions indicated potential demand exceeding 3 million NDAA-compliant cells per year, the company said, prompting a staged expansion in Korea. A new, higher-speed line is designed to increase capacity from 1 million to 3 million cells per year, mainly by releasing bottleneck steps in the process. SES expects the line to reach that expanded capacity by the end of the second quarter of 2027.

Molecular Universe 4.0, the company’s M-Lab system, is now in evaluation with leading battery manufacturers after an official launch at the 17th Advanced Lithium Batteries for Automotive Applications conference. The system integrates dry data predicted from advanced models with wet experimental data from autonomous labs and runs on-premises and air-gapped at customer sites.

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments declined to about $137 million from about $163 million at the end of the second quarter, including $9.2 million used in September to repurchase 16.2 million shares at an average $0.57 a share. Excluding the repurchase, net cash use in the quarter was about $16.5 million. The company had no debt. About $19.1 million remained under its repurchase authorization.

In October, SES filed a proxy statement seeking stockholder approval for a reverse stock split, which it said is designed to broaden eligibility for institutional ownership and support its continued NYSE listing.

Revenue through the third quarter was $18.4 million. The reiterated full-year outlook implies fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $11.6 million to $16.6 million.