Tesla Inc shares dropped as much as 15% on Wednesday, extending previous session’s losses after the electric automaker announced a $5 billion stock offering that was intended at cashing in on Wall Street’s heightened interest.
After an almost six-fold increase in share value this year, Tesla decided on a 5-for-1 stock split, which came into effect on Monday.
“After a strong positive reaction to a split, you recently had a share offering and a large holder selling. People are taking some profits after a monster run,” Elazar Advisors analyst Chaim Siegel said. “Tesla is allowed to have a down day.”
One of the top shareholders of the company, fund management firm Baillie Gifford & Co, cut its passive stake to 4.25% compared to 7.67% as of December 31, according to a regulatory filing.
This week, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk surpassed Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to become third-richest person in the world. Though currently, Musk is the fourth-richest person with a total net worth of 105 billion.
