TuSimple’s shares fell 55% early Wednesday after the company said it planned to voluntarily delist from the Nasdaq and deregister its shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The San Diego, California-based autonomous driving technology company said a special board committee comprising non-executive directors had concluded the delisting and deregistration was in the best interest of the company and its stockholders.
The benefits of remaining a publicly traded company no longer justified the costs and it said it can better navigate the transformation it is currently undergoing as a private company than as a publicly traded one.
Under the restructuring, announced in November, the company said it would wind down its US operations and focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
“Since TuSimple's initial public offering in 2021, there has been a significant shift in capital markets, due in part to rising interest rates and quantitative tightening, that has changed investor sentiment for pre-commercialization technology growth companies,” the company said in a statement.
“The Company's valuation and liquidity have declined, while the Company's stock price volatility has increased significantly.”
The company said it to remove its Nasdaq listing and deregister on or about January 29, with the last day of trading on or about February 7, 2024.
TuSimple’s shares were down $0.40 at $0.31 by 11am in New York. They peaked above $62 in July 2021 after debuting slightly above their initial public offering (IPO) price of $40 per share that April.