Ilika PLC (AIM:IKA, OTCQX:ILIKF, FRA:I8A), the solid-state battery developer, has delivered a trading update broadly in line with its broker's expectations while demonstrating meaningful progress on the commercialisation of both its miniature Stereax and larger-format Goliath battery platforms.
Cavendish, which has a 'buy' rating with a 130p target price, implying 300% upside from the current 32.5p, said the update confirmed the breadth of Ilika's commercial development pipeline is expanding, with evaluation agreements now in place with 27 companies across the automotive, defence and consumer sectors.
Revenue for the year to April 2026 came in at £1.1 million, flat on the prior year but including £100,000 of first commercial revenue from the supply of Stereax electrodes to Cirtec Medical, the US-based manufacturing partner that holds a ten-year licence to produce Ilika's miniature batteries.
The EBITDA loss of £6.2 million, wider than the prior year's £5.2 million, was in line with Cavendish's revised forecasts set at the interim results in January.
Period-end cash of £5.3 million came in slightly ahead of the broker's £5 million estimate, providing some comfort on the runway available to fund ongoing development.
Cavendish highlighted the significant milestones achieved during the year on the Goliath platform, which has moved beyond its original automotive focus into defence and consumer applications.
Positive feedback from a UK defence agency on safety tests of the 10Ah battery under battlefield conditions represents a potentially substantial new opportunity given the technology's energy density, weight savings and safety characteristics.
The April announcement of a joint development programme with Brompton, the folding bicycle manufacturer, adds a further commercial pathway.
On Stereax, the completion of manufacturing process qualification at Cirtec's Massachusetts facility in August 2025 kicked off production activities under the ten-year agreement, with prototype shipments to customers beginning in December and the first purchase orders following in January.
Cavendish forecasts revenue nearly doubling to £2 million in the year to April 2027, though the company is expected to remain loss-making with an adjusted EBITDA loss of £6.9 million as investment in scaling both platforms continues.