BYD Shares Fall on Speculation of Selling by Warren Buffett

By Yifan Wang and Raffaele Huang

BYD Co. stock fell Tuesday after a large stake appearing in Hong Kong's stock-market clearing system led to market speculation that major backer Warren Buffett is planning to sell shares in the Chinese electric car maker.

The stock was down 11% in midday Hong Kong trade, putting the company on track for its worst one-day loss since November 2020. BYD's Shenzhen-listed shares were down 7.3%.

The selloff came after data from the Hong Kong stock exchange Monday showed that shares circulating in its clearing system had risen by about 20.5 percentage points. A number of Chinese news media pointed out that Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. recently had a 20.49% stake in BYD, with 225 million shares, leading to speculation among investors on social media and elsewhere that Berkshire is adjusting its stake.

A BYD spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal that any reductions of major shareholders' stakes are subject to an equity declaration with the Hong Kong stock exchange. "The company is currently operating normally," she said.

Berkshire Hathaway didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

BYD's Hong Kong-traded shares hit an all-time high in late June amid soaring EV sales in China and new stimulus measures from Beijing to boost auto consumption in a bid to shore up the economy. After Tuesday's tumble, the stock is up about 24% over the past three months.

BYD more than quadrupled its sales of hybrid and electric passenger cars in the first six months this year to 638,157 vehicles, surpassing the global deliveries of Tesla Inc.

Write to Yifan Wang at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-12-22 0236ET