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Q2 Verification Dashboard

All three Korean battery makers reported Q2 operating profits on July 30, each reversing Q1 losses. A clean sweep. Except the underlying quality of those profits varies so sharply that treating them as comparable figures would be a mistake.

LGES filed a complete 45X bridge. Samsung SDI named AMPC as a driver but did not disclose the number in English materials. SK On bundled unquantified customer compensation with unquantified credits into a single operating line. Three profits, three very different levels of transparency.

Every number below carries a verification flag: directly disclosed, arithmetically derivable, or structurally unavailable from public filings. Utilization and ASP remain dark across all three.

Q2 Verification Dashboard

All three Korean battery makers reported Q2 operating profits on July 30, each reversing Q1 losses. A clean sweep. Except the underlying quality of those profits varies so sharply that treating them as comparable figures would be a mistake.

LGES filed a complete 45X bridge. Samsung SDI named AMPC as a driver but did not disclose the number in English materials. SK On bundled unquantified customer compensation with unquantified credits into a single operating line. Three profits, three very different levels of transparency.

Every number below carries a verification flag: directly disclosed, arithmetically derivable, or structurally unavailable from public filings. Utilization and ASP remain dark across all three.

LGES Reported

LGES Swings to KRW 113.3B Operating Profit

Verified. Q2 operating profit KRW 113.3 billion, reversing Q1's KRW 207.8 billion loss. EBITDA KRW 1.330 trillion. H1 ESS revenue grew 4.6x YoY per the IR deck. No GWh shipment volume disclosed for either segment.

LGES Ex-Credit

LGES Discloses Ex-Credit Loss: KRW -127.7B

Verified. Company-disclosed, not arithmetic. KRW 241.0 billion in North American production incentives stripped out yields an ex-credit operating loss of KRW 127.7 billion. Improved KRW 269.9 billion QoQ from Q1's ex-credit result. The only complete 45X bridge filed by any of the three.

Samsung Reported

Samsung SDI Profits After Seven Consecutive Loss Quarters

Verified. Consolidated operating profit KRW 204 billion; battery segment KRW 159 billion. Management cited product mix, AMPC, tariff effects, and UPS/BBU demand. Note: H1 net profit of KRW 527.7 billion includes KRW 402 billion in non-recurring affiliate equity income.

Samsung Gap

Samsung SDI AMPC Absent From English Disclosure

Not verifiable. Q2 English IR deck names AMPC as a profit driver but withholds the figure. Q1 KRX filing showed KRW 80.5 billion consolidated; Q2 KRX filing has not been reviewed. Battery-segment AMPC allocation is never broken out. Ex-credit profit cannot be derived.

SK On Reported

SK On Posts KRW 821.8B Operating Profit

Verified. Revenue KRW 2.946 trillion, up 57% QoQ. Operating profit swung KRW 1.171 trillion from Q1's loss. Management cited expanded Asian sales, a one-off customer compensation payment, and higher AMPC. An AMPC revenue reclassification complicates QoQ comparison.

SK On Gap

SK On Recurring Profit Unverifiable From Filings

Not calculable. Neither the customer compensation amount nor AMPC is quantified in public materials. The BOSK JV exit saves an estimated KRW 500 billion annually starting H2 2026, a real structural improvement. But Q2 recurring operating performance remains opaque.

LGES Cash

LGES Cash Conversion Collapsed on Inventory Build

Verified. Operating cash flow: KRW 25 billion against KRW 1.330 trillion EBITDA. Working-capital outflow of KRW 1.185 trillion absorbed nearly everything, driven by a KRW 1.091 trillion inventory build. Whether that inventory is ESS commissioning stock or unsold cells is undisclosed.

Uniform Gaps

Utilization and ASP Dark Across All Three

Gap across all three makers. No Q2 utilization rate, cell ASP, or $/kWh realization appears in any July 30 filing. Last public baselines: LGES 47.6%, Samsung SDI 50.0%, SK On 48.7% (2025 annual figures). Whether Q2 profits reflect price stabilization or volume mix remains unverifiable.

The Earnings Decomposition

Only One of the Three Korean Q2 Improvements Is a Number You Can Use

By Elise Huan-Cartwright— July 31, 2026

Feature image for article: Only One of the Three Korean Q2 Improvements Is a Number You Can Use

All three Korean cell makers reported sequential improvement on July 30, and the three improvements are not the same class of quantity. LGES set KRW 241.0B of North American incentives against KRW 113.3B of reported operating profit: a point estimate, and an underlying loss of KRW 127.7B. Samsung SDI disclosed KRW 107.7B of AMPC at the consolidated layer, one level above the battery segment a buyer actually contracts with, which yields a ceiling and no floor. SK On's KRW 821.8B reversal contains three unquantified inputs, leaving the sign of recurring profit open. None of the three disclosed a 2026 utilization rate.

The Earnings Decomposition

Only One of the Three Korean Q2 Improvements Is a Number You Can Use

By Elise Huan-Cartwright— July 31, 2026

All three Korean cell makers reported sequential improvement on July 30, and the three improvements are not the same class of quantity. LGES set KRW 241.0B of North American incentives against KRW 113.3B of reported operating profit: a point estimate, and an underlying loss of KRW 127.7B. Samsung SDI disclosed KRW 107.7B of AMPC at the consolidated layer, one level above the battery segment a buyer actually contracts with, which yields a ceiling and no floor. SK On's KRW 821.8B reversal contains three unquantified inputs, leaving the sign of recurring profit open. None of the three disclosed a 2026 utilization rate.

StarPlus LFP Timeline

Three StarPlus LFP Dates, No Commissioning Milestone

Samsung SDI's March 24 release says StarPlus "is expected to mass-produce" LFP from Q4 2026 — facility-level, conditional, no GWh threshold attached. ETNews on July 6, citing unnamed industry sources, puts the first LFP line's production start at September, ahead of Samsung's own target. The June 25 ETNews report puts LFP equipment installation completion in H1 2027, expanded supply from H2.

All three can hold. A staged ramp reconciles them if the September line sits outside the two roughly 12 GWh lines on the 2027 equipment schedule. Nothing public establishes that.

The Q2 deck, July 30, still carries US prismatic LFP mass production under H2 goals. And L&F cathode deliveries begin 2027, which leaves any 2026 output running on unnamed feedstock. Treat StarPlus LFP as claimed, not qualified.

StarPlus LFP Timeline

Three StarPlus LFP Dates, No Commissioning Milestone

Samsung SDI's March 24 release says StarPlus "is expected to mass-produce" LFP from Q4 2026 — facility-level, conditional, no GWh threshold attached. ETNews on July 6, citing unnamed industry sources, puts the first LFP line's production start at September, ahead of Samsung's own target. The June 25 ETNews report puts LFP equipment installation completion in H1 2027, expanded supply from H2.

All three can hold. A staged ramp reconciles them if the September line sits outside the two roughly 12 GWh lines on the 2027 equipment schedule. Nothing public establishes that.

The Q2 deck, July 30, still carries US prismatic LFP mass production under H2 goals. And L&F cathode deliveries begin 2027, which leaves any 2026 output running on unnamed feedstock. Treat StarPlus LFP as claimed, not qualified.

TAKE NOTE

Phase 1 line map (ETNews, June 25, unnamed industry sources): 4 lines, 3 converting to ESS — one NCA ESS running at ~7 GWh, two prismatic LFP at ~12 GWh each.

Confirmed: roadmap only (Samsung, March 2026), plus the L&F cathode contract with deliveries from 2027.

Unconfirmed: September 2026 start (trade press only); commissioning, acceptance and compliance documentation, nothing public.

Customer: a 2027 US ESS supply agreement is named; no named offtaker for 2026 output.

Resolves it: milestone definition and GWh scale for the September line — sampling, SOP or first shipment; cathode source pre-2027; a first-delivery record for 273Ah cells.

Arithmetic: 30 GWh end-2026 ESS target less ~7 GWh NCA leaves 23 GWh on lines whose equipment isn't installed until H1 2027.

Earnings Cycle Sources