ABAT vs SLDP: How American Battery Technology and Solid Power Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ABAT and SLDP share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ABAT and SLDP exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

American Battery Technology Company (ABAT), based in Reno, Nevada, operates a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility designed to process roughly 20,000 metric tonnes of feedstock per year into battery-grade metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. The company recovers these critical minerals from end-of-life batteries and manufacturing scrap, aiming to feed them back into the domestic battery supply chain. In recent quarters ABAT ramped throughput at the facility, grew recycling revenue, and reported its first positive gross margin, and it has announced plans for a second, larger recycling facility designed to handle around 100,000 metric tonnes of battery materials per year.

Full ABAT guide

Solid Power is a Colorado-based battery-technology company developing all-solid-state batteries built around a sulfide-based solid electrolyte, which it positions as a potentially safer, higher-energy-density alternative to today's lithium-ion cells. A central part of its pitch is that the electrolyte can be processed using existing lithium-ion manufacturing equipment, a "drop-in" compatibility the company argues lowers the barrier to commercialization. The business has shifted toward a capital-light model focused on supplying solid electrolyte and licensing its technology to partners rather than building full cell-manufacturing gigafactories itself, with much of the contemplated commercial-scale cell production happening through partners, particularly in Korea.

Full SLDP guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ABAT drivers: Recycling ramp; Tonopah Flats lithium resource.
• SLDP drivers: Automaker and battery-partner relationships; Electrolyte-supplier and licensing model.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: ABAT is an early-commercial, pre-profit company whose biggest risk is execution: scaling recycling to consistent profitability and financing and building the Tonopah Flats lithium project are both unproven and capital-intensive. For SLDP, commercialization is unproven: Solid Power generates minimal revenue (largely partner milestones and grants) and is years away from any solid-state battery reaching mass production, so the timeline is long and uncertain.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ABAT if you believe its drivers more; SLDP if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ABAT and SLDP guides.

ABAT. ABAT is a speculative, early-commercial company, so traditional valuation multiples do not apply: it is pre-profit, burning cash, and funding itself largely through equity issuance and government grants. The market values it on the potential of its recycling ramp and the Tonopah Flats lithium project rather than current earnings, which makes the share price highly sensitive to execution milestones, financing terms, dilution, and battery-metal prices.

SLDP. For a pre-commercial company like Solid Power, traditional earnings multiples are not meaningful because there is little revenue and no profit. What matters more is the size of the cash cushion relative to annual burn (the runway), progress on technical and partner milestones, and whether the electrolyte-supplier and licensing model produces real orders. The valuation is speculative and can move sharply on partnership news, financing events, or shifts in EV and solid-state-battery sentiment. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date.

Headline figures (approximate, Q3 FY2026 (reported mid-2026)): ABAT shows quarterly revenue ~$7.8 million (up sharply year over year as recycling ramped), gross margin Recently turned positive for the first time, net loss (quarter) ~$33.8 million (included ~$27.6 million stock-based compensation), net loss (nine months) ~$53.4 million; SLDP shows revenue and grant income (q1 2026) ~$3.1 million, down sharply year over year and driven mainly by SK On and U.S. Department of Energy milestones; effectively pre-revenue from a product-sales standpoint, trailing-twelve-month revenue ~$15.3 million (largely development and grant income, not commercial product sales), net loss (q1 2026) ~$13.0 million, or about ~$0.06 per share, narrower than the ~$15.2 million loss a year earlier, cash and investments ~$435 million total liquidity (cash, equivalents, and available-for-sale securities) as of March 31, 2026, with no debt.

ABAT and SLDP are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ABAT and SLDP exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.