WeRide shares have soared since the China-headquartered company went public on the Nasdaq last year.
Nasdaq-traded shares in WeRide, a China-headquartered autonomous vehicle technology supplier, soared by another 28% on Tuesday, closing at $40.40, following word at the end of last week that AI-chip supplier Nvidia had bought stock in the company.
Tuesday’s gain followed an 83% rise on Friday after a SEC filing showed Nvidia’s purchase of 1.7 million shares. Combined, WeRide’s stock has more than doubled in two sessions, giving it a market capitalization of $11 billion. The U.S. stock market was closed on Monday.
WeRide, which holds autonomous driving licenses in China, the UAE, Singapore and the U.S., went public on the Nasdaq on Oct. 28 at $15.50 per American depository share. The IPO and a concurrent private placement were expected to raise $458 million. Investors include Zhengzhou Yutong Group, a supplier of electric buses, Qiming Venture Partners, a Shanghai-headquartered investment company, and Alliance Ventures, whose three shareholders are Renault, Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors. Board members include Qiming’s Duane Kuang, a past member of the Forbes Midas List.
Headquartered in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, WeRide was formed in 2017. Founder and CEO Tony Han, who controls a 7.6% stake, worked as an associate professor of the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Missouri from 2007 to 2017. He was the chief scientist of autonomous driving unit at Chinese search heavyweight Baidu Inc. from 2014 to 2017. Han holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University, master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Rhode Island, and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Though WeChat’s shares have soared, the company financials have been in the red. WeChat lost $121 million in the six months to June last year, on revenue of $20.7 million.
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