Shares of BYD Co. Ltd. BYDDF BYDDY fell more than 12% on Wednesday morning Hong Kong session after Warren Buffett’s firm Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) trimmed its stake in the company.
What Happened: Berkshire sold 1.33 million shares of BYD at an average price of HK$277.1 (about $47 million), with the group now owning 218.719 million shares, cutting its stake to 19.92% from 20.04%, as per an exchange filing.
Earnings: BYD’s first-half gross profit had more than tripled to nearly 3.6 billion yuan ($521 million), driven by rapid growth in sales volume that helped it partially offset inflationary pressure from raw materials. Revenue in the same period rose 65.71% to 150.6 billion yuan, led by strong sales.
Expert Take: Yang Liu, Atlantis Investment’s chairperson and chief investment officer told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” the latest move could be “warning signs that the market may be [coming] to a big correction.”
“There is too much uncertainty, and I think [Buffett] got a little bit nervous,” she said.
“Maybe this recession in front of us for the U.S. economy and also a weaker Chinese consumption altogether brings down investors’ confidence to a larger scale.”
Context: BYD has been increasingly shifting toward new energy vehicles — in particular, battery electric vehicles — with its flagship Han sedan pitting it in close competition with the likes of Tesla Inc. TSLA and Nio Inc. NIO.
Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.