Amprius Technologies Raises Guidance Again as Defense Drone Demand Outpaces Supply, Eyes Robotics and Data Center Expansion
Q2 2026 earnings call, August 5, 2026
Amprius Technologies delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth and raised full-year guidance for the second time this year, a pattern that is becoming the defining feature of the silicon anode battery maker's story. Revenue hit $34 million in the quarter, up 19% sequentially and 2.3 times year-over-year, pushing the annualized run rate to $136 million. Management now expects at least $140 million in full-year revenue with gross margins of at least 28%, up from the $130 million and 25% guidance issued just three months ago. The company also reiterated its target of more than $4 million in adjusted EBITDA for the year, which would mark its first full year of positive adjusted EBITDA.
The more striking development is what is happening underneath the revenue line. Gross margin hit 27% in the quarter, up from 20% in Q1 and 9% a year ago, and CFO Ricardo Rodriguez said the raise to 28%-plus reflects a deliberate effort to keep contract manufacturers' fixed costs from scaling with volume rather than any one-time item. Adjusted EBITDA on a trailing-twelve-month basis is now negative $800,000, which Rodriguez described as "within a rounding error of breakeven on a full year basis." Analyst Tim Moore of Clear Street pressed management on whether the 2030 target of 30%-plus gross margin could be pulled forward, and Rodriguez did not close the door, saying "we'll pull it ahead if we can," while cautioning that full NDAA compliance carries its own cost structure that needs to be recovered and that margins "could actually take a slight step back in that given quarter" as the mix shifts.
Defense Budget Sets Up a Multi-Year Tailwind, But With a Lag
The most consequential new disclosure was the scale of the U.S. government's proposed drone spending. CEO Tom Stepien noted that the Trump administration's fiscal 2027 defense budget calls for more than $50 billion for the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, a new arm of the Department of War focused on drones, representing a requested 24,000% year-over-year increase. Amprius is already positioned inside this ecosystem through its Defense Innovation Unit contract, now totaling $18.1 million after a third increase, which is funding a pilot line in Fremont, California, expected to begin production in December 2026.
More tangibly, the Department of War's drone dominance program has invited 19 drone manufacturers to a competitive demonstration event at Fort Carson, Colorado this month, with orders for 60,000 drones going to top performers afterward. Half of the 19 participants already use Amprius cells, and the company says it has had at least initial conversations with the rest. Stepien was candid that scale on the budget side will not translate to revenue immediately: "there was 6-, 9-month lag from budget being available to the flow down to Amprius" historically, and he expects a similar delay once the fiscal 2027 authorization clears Congress, with meaningful revenue contribution more likely in mid-2027.
NDAA Compliance Push Reshapes the Supply Chain
Amprius is deep in the process of qualifying two full sets of 11 new suppliers, covering anodes, cathodes, separators and binders, in order to be fully U.S. NDAA-compliant with domestically produced cells by 2027. Stepien said the company is comfortable with the technical side, noting "these new suppliers are large international companies," but acknowledged the contracting and legal work "is keeping us busy on the supply chain and operational side of things." South Korea, where Amprius now has three partners, Libest, JR Energy and Top Material, provides NDAA-compliant supply today, while Nanotech Energy adds U.S. capacity. Management confirmed it is in active discussions to add a U.S. pouch cell manufacturing partner, with Rodriguez telling analyst Tim Moore he was "basically reading our mind" about the possibility, though Stepien clarified any move would be a manufacturing partnership rather than a facility purchase, following the costly lesson of Amprius' earlier Colorado buildout.
Beyond Drones: Robotics, Data Centers and eVTOL Enter the Pipeline
Amprius disclosed a new three-year contract with Barcelona-based Stark Future, a premium electric motorcycle manufacturer, expected to generate at least $100 million in revenue through 2029, with shipments starting in early 2027. This adds to a $21 million order disclosed earlier this year from a Chinese electric mobility customer, signaling a deliberate diversification away from pure defense drone exposure.
More notable is management's early positioning in robotics and data centers, two markets with no current revenue contribution but clear strategic intent. Stepien said the company sent a team to the Automate robotics show in Chicago and found its batteries "perform really well with robots that are in unstructured environments," citing quadruped and humanoid robots as better fits than structured warehouse robotics. Newly appointed Chief Business Officer Ronnie Tao will lead this push. On the data center side, Rodriguez offered a specific technical rationale: "you may need actually a high-power cell that's pretty close immediately behind those super capacitors to help, in essence, flatten the load in the system," describing a cylindrical cell providing "1 to 60 seconds of run time" between super-capacitor discharge and power restoration. Both remain speculative, with Stepien cautioning "there is no meaningful robotics revenue in our numbers today."
Balance Sheet and Capital Discipline
Amprius ended the quarter with $74.5 million in cash and no debt, up $12.2 million sequentially, with all $16.8 million of financing inflows coming from warrant and option exercises rather than dilutive equity raises. Rodriguez emphasized the company does not currently have an at-the-market program running. Capital expenditures remain modest at $2.8 million for the first half, well within the sub-$10 million full-year framework, reflecting the capital-light contract manufacturing model that keeps Amprius asset-light relative to peers building owned gigafactories. Accounts receivable grew to $40.7 million, which Rodriguez attributed to shipment timing weighted toward quarter-end rather than collection risk, noting receivables are concentrated among long-standing, large customers.
Regionally, Europe drove 68% of second-quarter revenue, and management wants at least 60% of revenue from Europe and from higher-margin cylindrical cell sales to sustain the margin trajectory. Rodriguez was explicit that China-based competition creates pricing pressure at the low end, noting that in China "the lower end of the range is -- will start in the single digits, and we are being careful to not play them," a candid acknowledgment of where Amprius chooses not to compete on price.