VinFast shares rose 21% on Monday, extending a week-long rise that has more than tripled the company’s market worth to $160 billion. The firm made a splash on Wall Street earlier this month and has quickly risen in valuation to become the third-most valuable automaker, trailing only Tesla and Toyota.
However, Vinfast’s small number of publicly available shares has rendered the company volatile, with shares rising or falling more than 14% in 11 of the last 12 sessions. Based on a share price of $83.33, the stock was on track to add approximately $33.6 billion to its market valuation.
VinFast’s stock was one of the most avidly followed on Stocktwits, a popular website for retail investors. According to a filing, Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam’s richest man and creator of parent conglomerate Vingroup, owns nearly all of VinFast, with a 99.7% ownership.
VinFast anticipates selling up to 50,000 electric vehicles this year, compared to Tesla’s forecast of 1.8 million vehicles. VinFast is moving away from Tesla’s direct-to-consumer model and instead turning to dealers to promote sales. In addition, the business is constructing a $4 billion facility in North Carolina.
