Ather Energy reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1.26 crore for the quarter ended 30 September 2026, its first quarterly profit since the scooter maker was founded in 2013, against a loss of Rs 154.07 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 62.9 per cent to Rs 1,464.24 crore.
The results, filed with the National Stock Exchange on 26 October, were read as evidence that electric two-wheeler unit economics can work in India. Ather shares closed 14 per cent higher at Rs 1,575, valuing the company at about Rs 61,856 crore, or roughly $6.5 billion.
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The Quarter That Flipped The Bottom Line
Volume did the heavy lifting. Ather sold 93,211 scooters in the quarter against 52,961 a year earlier, and the Hosur plant ran at 98 per cent capacity utilisation at peak. Customer enquiries rose 109 per cent to about 10 lakh and pre-orders more than doubled to 1.80 lakh, more than the company could build.
Operating profit followed. EBITDA came in at Rs 74.2 crore against a loss of about Rs 90.8 crore a year ago, a margin of 4.9 per cent against negative 9.6 per cent, a swing of roughly 1,450 basis points. It is the second straight quarter of positive EBITDA.
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The Arithmetic Behind Rs 1.26 Crore
The headline number is thin. Total income, including Rs 62 crore of other income, reached Rs 1,526.95 crore while total expenses were Rs 1,525.69 crore, so the profit works out to 0.09 per cent of operating revenue. Finance costs of Rs 26.04 crore and depreciation of Rs 46.87 crore exceed it.
What changed is the gap between the two growth rates. Revenue rose 62.9 per cent while expenses rose 39.4 per cent to Rs 1,525.69 crore. Materials consumed climbed 59.8 per cent to Rs 1,176.57 crore, employee costs rose 5.9 per cent to Rs 120.69 crore and other expenses fell 8.2 per cent.
Mix helped. Non-vehicle revenue, covering software, charging, accessories and servicing, rose to 15 per cent of operating revenue from 12 per cent, and 94 per cent of buyers took the AtherStack Pro package.
A Rs 122 Crore Bet That Demand Holds
Ather’s board approved about Rs 122 crore of capital spending on 26 October, split between Hosur and Factory 3.0 at AURIC in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra. Hosur goes from 4.2 lakh to 4.95 lakh units a year by December 2026 for up to Rs 58 crore, including Rs 53 crore for a new battery line.
Factory 3.0 will add 1.5 lakh units to a planned 5 lakh, reaching 6.5 lakh a year by the second quarter of FY28 for up to Rs 64 crore, with commercial production in phases from December 2026. Combined capacity will touch about 11.45 lakh units.
Ather, Ola Electric And The Big Two
In the showroom race Ather is still third. Vahan registrations for September 2026 put it at 30,479 units, a 14.71 per cent market share, up from 29,068 in August, behind TVS, Bajaj and Hero’s Vida, which hold close to two-thirds of the market.
Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, listed on the NSE and BSE in May 2025, and had not reported a profitable quarter until now. Ola Electric, the closest listed pure-play rival, saw its loss narrow to Rs 336 crore in Q1 FY27 while revenue fell 45 per cent.
The Editor’s View: A Signal, Not A Safety Margin
Treat Rs 1.26 crore as a signal, not a cushion. At 0.09 per cent net margin, one bad quarter on commodity prices wipes it out, and depreciation on the new battery line and Factory 3.0 will land before that capacity earns anything.
Three things decide whether it holds. Aluminium, copper, lithium and crude-linked plastics all rose in the quarter and Mehta acknowledged surging commodity prices, so input costs are the first risk. Second is running two plant expansions through December. Third is software and charging revenue.
Ather reports again in January. By then the market will know whether September was the turning point or a single good quarter, and the Rs 122 crore of capacity will have to show up in volumes.
