Eugene Investment & Securities issued an Overweight rating on Korea's battery sector on the 15th, projecting that Tesla's global electric-vehicle sales will return to growth at 8% this year — the first expansion in three years.
Tesla's Sales Reversal
Tesla's global EV deliveries contracted for two consecutive years, falling 1% in 2024 and a sharper 9% in 2025. This year, however, a recovery is expected to be driven by strong demand outside North America: sales in Europe and other markets are forecast to rise 38% and 34%, respectively, more than offsetting continued weakness in North America.
Energy Storage: A Second Growth Engine
Tesla's battery energy storage system (BESS) business is expanding rapidly alongside its EV operations. Global BESS shipments reached 46.7 GWh in 2025, up 49% year on year. Eugene projects a further rise to 55 GWh this year, a gain of 18%. More significantly, Tesla's BESS manufacturing capacity — currently around 60 GWh — is set to more than double to 130 GWh by year-end.
Korean Suppliers in Line for Gains
Eugene confirmed that domestic Korean battery-cell manufacturers have already secured supply agreements to provide cells for Tesla's US-bound BESS products. The brokerage expects Tesla-related order volumes to expand across the broader materials supply chain, encompassing cathode materials, electrolytes, additives, and copper foil.
The regulatory environment is also turning in Korean suppliers' favour. The United States' policy of excluding Chinese-made batteries from its market, together with the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act and Battery Passport regulations, are identified as structural tailwinds that materially benefit Korean battery producers — collectively known as K-battery — relative to their Chinese competitors.
Buy the Dips
Eugene acknowledged that share prices of K-battery stocks have fallen recently, but attributed the weakness to FOMO-driven fund flows into the semiconductor sector — a rotation in investor positioning rather than any deterioration in underlying business conditions. "The decline is entirely unrelated to fundamentals," the report stated.
The brokerage argues that Korean battery companies will begin a meaningful earnings turnaround this year, with full-scale profit growth resuming from next year onwards. Its recommended strategy: buy on every dip.