Energy Vault (NRGV) Q3 2026: Thin Quarter, $2.3B Backlog, All Eyes on Q4

Energy Vault reported an adjusted loss of $0.14 per share for Q3 2026, beating expectations. Revenue came in at $13.07 million, missing expectations, and fell roughly 61% year over year. Management had already signaled the quarter would be light on deliveries, so neither number was a surprise to investors following the story closely.

The gross margin headline of 71% deserves a closer read. It was significantly lifted by $4.3 million in tariff refunds; strip those out and the adjusted gross margin falls to 48%. Adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of $14.7 million from a loss of $6.03 million in the same period a year earlier, as operating expenses rose 27%. The balance sheet also shows stockholders' equity turned to a deficit, and total liabilities expanded sharply year over year.

The part of the report that matters most for the investment case is the backlog, which reached $2.3 billion, up 147% year over year. Of that figure, roughly $800 million is classified as Build and Transfer work, while $1.5 billion sits in the Build, Own and Operate category, reflecting the company's strategic shift toward owning long-duration infrastructure. CEO Robert Piconi noted that total cash increased nearly three times year over year and that the company secured non-recourse financing for 275 megawatts of generation capacity during the quarter.

Full-year 2026 revenue guidance was affirmed at $290 million to $310 million. With only $13 million booked in Q3, that means a very large share of annual revenue depends on fourth-quarter project deliveries. Management also issued preliminary 2027 targets of $600 million to $700 million in revenue and $40 million to $50 million in adjusted EBITDA, the first public signal that the Build, Own and Operate pivot is expected to begin showing up meaningfully in the financial results.