Amplify Lithium & Battery Technology ETF

BATT

Market cap $79.9M

Artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and machine learning are just a few of the obvious tech innovations dominating the majority of investor attention spans these days. Along with the companies focused on these technologies, attention also diverts to those integral to meeting hardware demands, like semiconductor firms.

The global electric vehicle market remains highly competitive, with China as the dominant region and the U.S. seeing a temporary Q3 boost from expiring tax credits. BYD Company Limited leads in global EV sales but saw a rare year-over-year decline in Q3, mainly due to intense competition in China, though exports are surging. Xiaomi is emerging as a standout, rapidly scaling EV sales and maintaining strong momentum despite being a newcomer and not an EV pure-play.

It may not be the end of the quarter yet, but we have made it through summer, and that seems like a good checkpoint to evaluate the top ETF investment themes YTD. Let's take a moment to look in this year's thematic ETF rearview mirror.

Global electric car sales in June 2025 are up 22% YoY to 28% share. China sales up 30% to 53% share. Europe up 23% to 29% share. USA down 8.4% to 9.04%. EV market news - In H1 2025, China NEV sales jumped 40.3% to 6.94 million units. China's robotaxi market to reach $44.5B by 2035, ~900x its current size. EV company news - BYD H1 2025 sales were up 31.5% YoY. Tesla secures Robotaxi testing permit for public roads in California. Zeekr to go private in Geely merger.

This summer has brought a renewed focus on alternative assets. Investors are rotating into gold, other precious metals, bitcoin, and option-based strategies.

With nearly 70% of global rare earth production and more than 90% of processing taking place in China, the world remains heavily reliant on the country for rare earth element supplies. Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals, including neodymium, dysprosium and lanthanum, which are used for various applications.

Global electric car sales Sept. 2024 up 31% YoY to ~20% share. China sales up 51% to 53% share. Europe up 6% to 26% share. USA down 13.7% to 10.49%. EV market news - Trump to propose making car loan interest fully tax-deductible. Several of Europe's biggest carmakers unveiled low-cost EVs at the Paris Motor Show. EV company news - Tesla launches Cybercab & Robovan AVs. BYD surpasses Tesla in quarterly revenue for the first time. Volkswagen hit by 60% fall in profits.

Lithium prices were flat the past month. Lithium market news - The US government is reportedly examining price support mechanisms for domestic critical mineral projects. BloombergNEF forecasts lithium deficits may begin in 2025. Lithium company news - Arcadium Lithium confirms takeover offer from Rio Tinto. Bikita Minerals has shut down one of its production plants, citing weak global prices.

As an ex-future mobility research analyst, I spent a lot of time looking at financial statements and there was very little to see. New entrants in the space had no revenues (and if they had revenues then they had no profitability) and there was very little proof that they would hit their targets.

Lithium stocks may be some of the most hated investments at the moment. However, that gives us even more reason to buy.