TOKYO (Reuters) -Panasonic on Wednesday said first-quarter operating profit at its battery-making unit grew 47% as an AI investment boom offset the negative impact of U.S. tariffs and the termination of electric vehicle tax credits.
Profit at the unit, which makes batteries for Tesla and other EV makers, rose to 31.9 billion yen ($215.6 million).
Concerns remain over a further slowdown in EV demand due to U.S. tariff policies and the termination of the IRA 30D tax credit, Panasonic said in a presentation slide, but noted that demand for energy storage systems for data centres is “growing more than anticipated”.
For the full-year ending in March 2026, the company maintained its operating profit forecast for the energy unit of 167 billion yen.
However, Panasonic Group Chief Financial Officer Akira Waniko said on a conference call that it “seems inevitable” that its projection of 46 gigawatt hours (GWh) for EV battery sales in North America for the fiscal 2025/26 year will be downscaled.
It should at least surpass fiscal 2024/25’s 38.1 GWh, Waniko added.
Panasonic Holdings said in May it would cut 10,000 staff and expected to book restructuring costs of 130 billion yen as part of a push to improve group profitability.
The electronics manufacturer said at the time it did not expect to book any restructuring costs in its energy business.
Last week, Panasonic Energy’s major customer Tesla warned of fallout from the U.S. government’s legislation to cut a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers.
Panasonic Energy operates a plant in the U.S. state of Nevada that provides batteries to Tesla and earlier this month started production at its second U.S. plant, in Kansas.
It also makes energy storage systems for data centres in its consumer business, which in the April-June quarter saw a rapid rise in demand owing to massive AI-related investments, the company said.
But both auto batteries and consumer energy storage systems would see a certain impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, it said, adding it would offset additional tariff costs by price revisions.
Panasonic Energy is investing in new battery technologies as it competes with Chinese and South Korean rivals such as CATL and LG Energy Solution (LGES) in the global EV supply chain.
Last week, LGES warned of slowing demand by early next year due to U.S. tariffs and policy uncertainties after it reported a profit jump for the April-June period.
($1 = 147.9400 yen)
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Writing by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Christopher Cushing, David Holmes and Sharon Singleton)
