QuantumScape reports third-quarter net loss of $84.5 million and reaffirms full-year guidance

QuantumScape Corporation (QS) said Wednesday its net loss for the third quarter of 2026 fell to $84.5 million from $105.8 million a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing that attached its shareholder letter and earnings release.

The quarter ended Sept. 30. The company released the results in the letter and in a separate press release.

Here's how the company did:

• Net loss per share: 14 cents vs. 18 cents a year earlier
• Net loss: $84.5 million vs. $105.8 million a year earlier
• Adjusted EBITDA loss: $60.7 million vs. $61.4 million a year earlier
• Customer billings: $9.8 million, with no prior-period figure given

The statement of operations has no revenue line. Customer billings, which the company defines as the total value of invoices issued to customers and partners regardless of accounting treatment, were $9.8 million.

The company said billings may vary from quarter to quarter as projects move through phases of engagement.

Total operating expenses fell to $92.4 million from $115.0 million. Research and development spending was $73.9 million, down from $92.1 million.

General and administrative expense was $18.5 million, compared with $22.9 million a year earlier. Interest income was $8.1 million, down from $10.0 million.

Weighted-average shares outstanding rose to 620.6 million from 588.7 million.

For the first nine months, the net loss was $283.5 million, down from $334.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the period was $188.2 million, compared with $189.0 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure, or net loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and other non-recurring charges. The company said it uses the measure to assess operating performance.

Capital expenditures were $4.4 million in the quarter. The company said the spending went mainly into its technology roadmap and associated facility work.

It ended the quarter with $819.8 million in liquidity. The filing also shows $18.5 million of cash received under a collaboration agreement with a related party in the quarter, and no such receipt in the year-earlier quarter.

Guidance

The company reiterated its full-year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA loss guidance of $250 million to $275 million.

It also reiterated capital expenditure guidance of $27 million to $37 million for the year, leaving both ranges unchanged.

CEO and President Siva Sivaram said in the letter: "We're proud of the progress we've made so far in 2026, and while there is much work left to do, the whole team is focused on our mission to revolutionize energy storage."

Eagle Line and Muehlbauer partnership

The company inaugurated its Eagle Line pilot cell production line in February. It said the line is now fully operational and producing increased volumes of QSE-5 cells for customers.

QuantumScape also announced a partnership with Muehlbauer Group, a German provider of manufacturing and automation equipment, to supply cell assembly equipment for a planned 100 megawatt-hour production line.

The company said that line will be the first commercial-scale mass production of QS cells. Start of production is targeted for 2028, and engineering work on higher-throughput processes is already underway.

Muehlbauer engineers worked on site in San Jose to evaluate the Eagle Line pilot processes for scalability. With partnerships now announced with Murata, Corning and Muehlbauer, the company said it covers the entire production flow.

QSDC and QSAS

QuantumScape launched its QS PowerBlock, an in-rack energy storage reference design for AI data centers, on Oct. 8. The launch came in conjunction with the Open Compute Project Global Summit in San Jose.

In testing, the PowerBlock demonstrated 4x the power density and 5x longer runtime than the Open Compute Project reference specification based on conventional lithium-ion battery systems.

The company said its cells remained thermally stable well over 300 °C in customer and third-party lab testing during the quarter. Conventional lithium-ion batteries are not thermally stable above about 180 °C.

The company put the total addressable market for its QSAS vertical at up to $75 billion by 2030. QSAS covers defense, aerospace, medical devices and consumer electronics, among other areas.

QuantumScape recorded its first customer billings from QSAS this quarter, after shipping QSE-5 samples to customers in the defense, aviation and telecommunications sectors.

Automotive

The company recorded its first customer billings from the Honda agreement announced in June, the filing said. That agreement covers joint development work to integrate its solid-state platform into Honda's technology roadmap.

It also signed an agreement with a new customer, described as a leading global player in mobility manufacturing. The company said it is aligning its statement of work with VW PowerCo.

The company aims to bring all of its automotive customers onto a common technology platform. It will give more details on that platform and its collaboration model at its 3rd annual Solid State Battery Symposium on Nov. 11 in Kyoto, Japan.