QuantumScape Q3 Net Loss of $84.5 Million as Billings Hit $9.8 Million

QuantumScape Corporation (QS ) announced its business and financial results for the third quarter of 2026, the period ended September 30, on October 21, 2026, posting a letter to shareholders that reported a GAAP net loss of $84.5 million, or $0.14 per share, and customer billings of $9.8 million for the quarter. The solid-state battery developer said it would host a live webcast at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern Time) the same day, with an archive of the webcast available shortly after the call for 12 months.

Third-Quarter Results and Full-Year Outlook

According to the letter, signed by chief executive Dr. Siva Sivaram and chief financial officer Kevin Hettrich, GAAP operating expenses were $92.4 million in the quarter. The unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations included in the letter show total operating expenses of $92,424 thousand for the three months ended September 30, 2026, compared with $114,993 thousand in the same period of 2025. Research and development expense was $73,881 thousand, versus $92,074 thousand a year earlier, and general and administrative expense was $18,543 thousand, versus $22,919 thousand.

The statements show a GAAP net loss of $84,477 thousand for the quarter, compared with $105,824 thousand, or $0.18 per share, in the prior-year period. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, the company recorded a net loss of $283,516 thousand on total operating expenses of $307,730 thousand, against a net loss of $334,945 thousand and operating expenses of $362,154 thousand in the same period of 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA loss was $60.7 million in the quarter, which the company characterized as in line with expectations. The reconciliation included in the letter shows an adjusted EBITDA loss of $60,707 thousand for the quarter, compared with $61,427 thousand in the third quarter of 2025, after stock-based compensation of $16,313 thousand and depreciation and amortization expense of $15,404 thousand. The letter defines adjusted EBITDA as a non-GAAP supplemental measure of operating performance, states that it is not a substitute for GAAP results, and cautions that it may not be comparable to similarly titled measures provided by other companies.

For full-year 2026, QuantumScape reiterated guidance for an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $250 million and $275 million and capital expenditures of between $27 million and $37 million. Capital expenditures in the third quarter were $4.4 million, which the letter says were primarily composed of investment in the company’s technology roadmap and associated facility spend.

Customer billings in the quarter were $9.8 million. The letter defines customer billings as “the total value of all invoices issued by QS to our customers and partners in the period, regardless of accounting treatment,” and states that the operational metric is not a substitute for revenue under U.S. GAAP. Third-quarter billings included automotive and non-automotive customers and reflected a mix of development activities, payments from ecosystem partners and cell shipments, the company said, adding that billings may vary from quarter to quarter as engagements progress through various phases.

QuantumScape ended the quarter with $819.8 million in liquidity. The accompanying balance sheet shows cash and cash equivalents of $75,599 thousand and marketable securities of $744,184 thousand at September 30, 2026, compared with $230,524 thousand and $740,283 thousand at December 31, 2025, with total assets of $1,119,081 thousand and total stockholders’ equity of $995,344 thousand. The cash-flow statement shows net cash used in operating activities of $55,060 thousand for the quarter and $171,319 thousand for the nine-month period, as well as $18,503 thousand of cash received under a collaboration agreement with a related party within financing activities.

Production Scale-Up and Customer Updates

In the letter, QuantumScape announced a QS ecosystem partnership with Muehlbauer Group, described as a German provider of manufacturing and automation equipment, to supply cell assembly equipment for a planned 100 megawatt-hour cell production line. The company says the line will represent the first commercial-scale mass production of QS cells, with output aimed at its QSDC and QSAS business verticals, and is targeting start of production in 2028. According to the letter, Muehlbauer engineers worked on site in San Jose evaluating Eagle Line pilot processes for scalability and readiness and developed design enhancements intended to bring the technology to mass production, beginning with the 100 megawatt-hour line and working toward gigawatt-hour scale.

The Eagle Line pilot cell production line was inaugurated in February 2026 and is fully operational, producing increased volumes of QSE-5 cells for customers, the company said. With Murata, Corning and Muehlbauer, QuantumScape says it has now announced partnerships with global players along the entire production flow.

On October 8, 2026, the company launched the QS PowerBlock for AI data centers in conjunction with the Open Compute Project Global Summit in San Jose, California. The QS PowerBlock is an in-rack energy storage reference design built around the QSE-5 cell, with a modular design that the company says allows the concept to be applied across a variety of rack geometries. In testing, the QS 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. The letter also states that QS solid-state batteries have been shown to be thermally stable well over 300 degrees Celsius, as validated in customer and third-party lab testing during the quarter, while the company says conventional lithium-ion batteries are not thermally stable above roughly 180 degrees Celsius. QuantumScape said it will integrate the QS PowerBlock with rack-level power electronics and battery management systems and is already engaged with technology partners in those ecosystems.

In automotive, the company recorded its first customer billings in the quarter from the Honda agreement announced in June 2026, its second named automotive partnership, which covers joint development work to integrate QuantumScape’s solid-state platform into Honda’s technology roadmap. The company also said it signed an agreement with a new customer it described as a leading global player in mobility manufacturing. QuantumScape said it is aligning its statement of work with VW PowerCo, with the stated goal of bringing its automotive customers onto a common long-term technology platform that goes beyond QSE-5 and includes other applications such as data centers and robotics.

The QSAS vertical, which the letter describes as engaged with customers across defense, aerospace, medical devices, consumer electronics and other application areas, recorded its first customer billings in the quarter, and the company shipped QSE-5 samples to customers in the defense, aviation and telecommunications sectors. QuantumScape estimates a total addressable market for QSAS of up to $75 billion by 2030. The company also said its cells are built in America and use supply chains designed from the beginning to avoid critical dependencies on Chinese suppliers of equipment or materials such as graphite, and the letter notes that on September 15, 2026, the company joined an Atlantic Council roundtable in Washington, D.C., focused on domestic battery supply chains, alongside Congressman Sam Liccardo and participants from government and industry.

QuantumScape said it will announce more details on its next-generation technology platform and its collaboration model with automotive customers on November 11, 2026, at its third annual Solid-State Battery Symposium in Kyoto, Japan.