[Auto] Li Auto stock sinks toward 7th straight loss, after public share offering prices at 10% discount

[_Happy boy]

Shares of Li Auto Inc. sank Friday, putting them on track for a seventh-straight decline, after the China-based electric vehicle maker’s public share offering priced at a discount of more than 10%.

The company said the 47 million share secondary offering of its U.S.-listed stock, which it disclosed before Wednesday’s open, had priced at $29.00 per American depositary share (ADS). That was 10.3% below Thursday’s stock closing price of $32.31.

The stock LI, -5.50% slid 5.2% in afternoon trading. It has now plunged 30.3% amid a seven-day losing streak, which started after the stock closed at a record $43.96 on Nov. 24. That would be the longest losing streak since the stock went public on July 30.

Li Auto raised $1.36 billion from the share offering, and could raise about another $204.5 million if the underwriters exercise all of the options to buy additional shares, granted to cover overallotments.

The company plans to use the proceeds for research and development of next-generation electric vehicle technologies, including ultrafast charging, future car models, autonomous driving technologies and general corporate purposes.

In the two days since the offering was announced, the stock fell 7.3%. If the offering had priced at a 10.3% discount to the Dec. 1 closing price of $34.86, the 47 million ADS offering could have raised $1.47 billion.

Among other China-based EV makers, shares of Nio Inc. NIO, -5.09% dropped 5.0% in afternoon trading Friday, and has shed 20.2% so far this week. XPeng Inc.’s stock XPEV, -4.78% declined 5.0% Friday and has tumbled 23.4% week to date.

Also read: XPeng downgraded at UBS, as stock has run up too much to keep buying.

The pullback in the stocks Friday comes as the iShares MSCI China exchange-traded fund MCHI, +0.05% has slipped 2.2% this week and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.88% tacked 1.5%.

Elsewhere, shares of Kandi Technologies Group Inc. KNDI, -0.86% eased 0.4% in afternoon trading, and has plummeted 41.0% this week; Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. GELYY, +3.42% gained 3.4% Friday and BYD Co. BYDDY, +2.70% tacked on 2.5%.