We all knew it was going to happen and just a few days after VinFast’s share price soared so high that it was the world’s third most valuable car manufacturer with a value of $200 billion, the company’s stock price has come crashing down.
Shortly after the Vietnamese company went public in the U.S., its share prices soared well beyond the opening price of $22 per share, reaching as high as $93 in intraday trading earlier this week. However, prices fell by some 44% on Tuesday, slashing the company’s value by more than $90 billion. This also means that the wealth of VinFast founder Pham Nhat Vuong dropped by $67 billion.
At the time of writing, VinFast’s stock price was hovering around the $43 mark after hours. Interestingly, it still has a market capitalization that exceeds $100 billion, meaning it is only trailing Tesla and Toyota in the list of the world’s most valuable car manufacturers.
Read: VinFast VF 9 Offers EPA Range Of Up To 330 Miles, U.S. Deliveries Slated For Q4
What many investors may not realize is just how little of the EV startup is owned by individual and institutional investors. In fact, approximately 1.2 billion of VinFast’s 2.3 billion outstanding shares are held by VinGroup, of which Vuong owns 51% directly and through Vietnam Investment Group. A further 1.1 billion shares are also held by two entities controlled solely by Vuong. What this means is that VinFast’s owner still controls a staggering 99.7% of all VinFast stock.
Many analysts and industry experts remain unconvinced of VinFast’s viability in the U.S. auto industry. While the company recently broke ground on a $2 billion factory in Chatham County, North Carolina, the local reception to the VF 8 SUV has been lukewarm at best. In fact, data from Experian reveals that just 128 VF 8s were registered between January and May this year, despite the company having already imported some 3,000 vehicles into the U.S.
