Ilika progress hailed as it enters the execution phase
Last updated: 09:15 22 Jan 2026 EST, First published: 09:05 22 Jan 2026 EST
Ilika PLC (AIM:IKA, OTCQX:ILIKF, FRA:I8A) has cleared a key commercial hurdle in the development of its solid-state battery technology, completing customer qualification for its Stereax platform and preparing to begin manufacturing at its UK facility.
Cavendish Securities said the update demonstrated continued operational progress and maintained its 48p target price on the shares.
The AIM-listed company, which is also developing Goliath batteries for electric vehicles, said it remained on track to enter the next phase of that programme later this year.
Ilika used Thursday’s interim results to mark progress in turning its solid-state battery work into products that can be made at scale, with Cavendish highlighting “substantial milestones” across both its Stereax and Goliath programmes and pointing to customer deliveries and the start of early commercial revenue.
“Initial volumes of Stereax M300 batteries and 10Ah Goliath prototypes were delivered to customers by the end of 2025, with the first phase of Stereax commercial revenue generation commencing in January 2026,” the broker wrote.
The immediate focus is Stereax, Ilika’s small-format batteries aimed at medical and industrial devices, where the shift from development runs to a contract-manufacturing model is designed to support repeatable output.
Cavendish noted that Ilika had begun shipping “Stereax M300 SSB prototypes” in December 2025, “with allocations to 21 customers”, and said Ilika and Cirtec Medical would use the distribution to “collect important feedback … before production accelerates”.
A further marker came this week. On 21 January, Ilika announced “a purchase order from Cirtec Medical … for a supply of Stereax electrodes”, which Cavendish called “a very important milestone … as it commences the commercial revenue-generating phase of the relationship with Cirtec”.
On the larger-format Goliath programme, targeted at electric vehicles and some consumer electronics, Cavendish focused on pilot-line readiness and yields, with customer evaluation now underway.
It pointed to Ilika’s “successful final commissioning test” of its automated assembly line, adding that the newly operational pilot facility was used to manufacture “prototype 10Ah Goliath battery cells”, where “the first batch achieved a 93% yield”, before Ilika began shipping “P1.5 10Ah Goliath SSB prototypes to customers … including in the automotive sector”.
What comes next centres on scale-up to larger cells and the manufacturing path that sits behind them.
Cavendish said the DRIVE35 PRIMED programme is “due to deliver the production of P2 (50Ah) SSB prototype cells, the development of 50Ah A-Sample batteries, the creation of a Production Scale Model, as well as a comprehensive Business Case Review for gigafactory-scale manufacturing”.
It added that Ilika had created “initial generic samples of larger 50Ah P2 cells for testing”, which will be available to ship once feedback from the current 10Ah evaluations has been incorporated, with that feedback “expected during 2026”.
The interim numbers themselves reflect Ilika’s development-stage profile, with grant income still central.
Cavendish said first-half revenue was £0.6 million (from £1.0 million a year earlier), “predominantly from the DRIVE35 PRIMED grant-funded programme”, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were “a loss of £3.2 million”, reflecting higher operating costs linked to “developing, manufacturing and testing the Goliath 10Ah prototypes”.
Period-end cash was £6.9 million after a £4.2 million gross fundraising earlier in the period.
Cavendish also flagged that “current grant funding, focused on the PRIMED programme, will be coming to an end during 2H26” and that it anticipates the next stage “may not be smoothly contiguous”.
It said it had adopted “a more prudent view” on the timing of Stereax ramp-up and a “more cautious view” on when Goliath licensing or partnership revenues are secured, cutting its forecasts for revenue to £1.5 million in the year to April 2026 and £2.0 million the following year.
Even with the more conservative near-term assumptions, Cavendish reiterated a 'buy' recommendation.
A 130p target price implies 242% upside, and shows an enterprise value of £61.0 million with £7.8 million of net cash (market capitalisation £68.7 million).
On Cavendish’s estimates, the shares trade on an EV/sales multiple of 42.0x for 2026E and 31.3x for 2027E, underscoring that valuation is anchored to delivery of the commercial milestones now in train rather than near-term profitability.
