QuantumScape's Q3 Expenses Drop, Net Loss Narrows

By Hao Liu • Thursday, October 22 01:52 • Permanent Link

QuantumScape’s third quarter showed lower spending, a narrower loss, and a smaller cash balance than a year earlier, while customer billings and partnerships advanced.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, operating expenses fell to $92.4 million from $115.0 million a year earlier. Research and development dropped to $73.9 million from $92.1 million, while general and administrative declined to $18.5 million from $22.9 million.

Net loss narrowed to $84.5 million, compared with $105.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Loss per share improved to $0.14 from $0.18. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $60.7 million. For the first nine months, net loss improved to $283.5 million from $334.9 million, and loss per share improved to $0.46 from $0.59.

Cash used in operations came to $55.1 million in the quarter, down from $63.7 million a year earlier. Capital spending was $4.4 million, versus $9.6 million. Net cash used in investing activities fell sharply to $19.9 million from $156.4 million, while financing activities provided $17.7 million, down from $270.6 million in the prior-year quarter.

Customer billings were $9.8 million in the quarter. The company said its first customer billings from the Honda agreement were recorded in the quarter, and it also logged its first customer billings from QSAS. It shipped QSE-5 samples to customers in defense, aviation and telecommunications, and said the QS PowerBlock testing showed 4x the power density and 5x longer runtime than the Open Compute Project reference specification.

Liquidity at quarter-end was $819.8 million. On the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents were $75.6 million, down from $230.5 million at year-end 2025, while marketable securities were $744.2 million, up slightly from $740.3 million. Total assets were $1.12 billion, versus $1.31 billion at year-end. Total liabilities were $123.7 million, down from $139.2 million.

The company reiterated full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA loss guidance of $250 million to $275 million and capex guidance of $27 million to $37 million. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares 2.18% to a price of $3.98. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 8-K report here.

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