Ather Energy Posts First Quarterly Profit, Shares Hit Upper Circuit

The Bengaluru scooter maker swung from a Rs 154 crore loss a year ago to a Rs 1.26 crore profit in the September quarter, and the stock hit its 10 percent upper circuit on the news.

Ather Energy posted the first quarterly profit in its history on Monday, October 26, and investors pushed the shares straight to their upper circuit. The Bengaluru electric scooter maker reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1.26 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, against a loss of Rs 154.07 crore in the same quarter a year earlier, Reuters reported via The Hindu BusinessLine, and Inc42 reported the same consolidated figure from the company's results. The profit is small. The swing behind it is not: Ather lost Rs 51.1 crore in the June quarter, so Monday's result closes a long run of red ink at one of India's best-known electric vehicle startups.

Operating revenue rose 62.9 percent year on year to Rs 1,464.2 crore, from Rs 898.9 crore a year earlier. Total income reached Rs 1,527 crore, including Rs 62.7 crore of other income, which Inc42 noted remained important to the bottom line because operating revenue still ran Rs 61.5 crore below total expenses. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation came in at Rs 74.2 crore, a margin of 4.9 percent, up from 0.8 percent in the June quarter. Total expenses rose 39.4 percent to Rs 1,526 crore, growing more slowly than revenue. Non-vehicle revenue from software, charging, accessories, spares and servicing rose to 15 percent of operating revenue, from 12 percent a year earlier.

The market reaction

Ather shares closed at Rs 1,518 on the National Stock Exchange on Monday, up 10 percent, the day's upper circuit, from a previous close of Rs 1,380. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 1,643.85 on the BSE during the session. The Hindu BusinessLine's results coverage recorded the standalone net profit at Rs 1.5 crore and the same 10 percent share jump. For a sector where the listed leader, Ola Electric, has spent the year fighting quality complaints and market share losses, a profitable quarter from its main rival carries weight beyond the size of the profit itself.

Why it matters

India's electric two-wheeler market sells on thin margins, heavy discounting and subsidy arithmetic. Ather has built its brand on engineering and its Rizta family scooter rather than on price cuts, and Monday's numbers are the first evidence that the approach can pay for itself at scale. Volumes did the heavy lifting: the company sold about 93,000 vehicles in the quarter, up about 42 percent year on year, and wholesale registrations rose about 60 percent to 92,589 units. The company said demand exceeded its available production capacity, which is the problem it now plans to spend money on.

The context and the expansion

The board approved about Rs 122 crore of new capacity spending on October 26. About Rs 58 crore goes to the Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu, lifting its annual capacity from 4.2 lakh to 4.95 lakh units by December 2026, and about Rs 64 crore goes to the AURIC plant at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra, where planned capacity rises from 5 lakh to 6.5 lakh units by the second quarter of fiscal 2028. Together the plans take installed capacity to about 11.4 lakh units a year. Ather also disclosed that a new subsidiary, Ather Insurance, received a certificate of registration from the insurance regulator IRDAI on October 15 to act as a corporate agent selling insurance policies.

What happens next

The question for the next two quarters is whether the profit survives its own costs. Raw material prices are the pressure point: flash coverage of the results flagged aluminium up 35 percent and copper up 58 percent as risks to margins. The new Hosur capacity lands in December, and the Factory 3.0 plant at Sambhajinagar is due to commission in the third quarter of fiscal 2027. If volumes hold through the festive quarter and the capacity arrives on time, Ather enters 2027 as the rare Indian EV maker that has shown it can make money. If costs bite first, Monday's Rs 1.26 crore will read as a milestone on the way, not the destination.

Key numbers

Consolidated net profit Rs 1.26 crore, against a loss of Rs 154.07 crore a year earlier and Rs 51.1 crore in the June quarter. Operating revenue Rs 1,464.2 crore, up 62.9 percent. EBITDA Rs 74.2 crore at a 4.9 percent margin. Shares closed at Rs 1,518, up 10 percent. Capacity spending approved: about Rs 122 crore, targeting about 11.4 lakh units a year by fiscal 2028.