Tesla plans to raise up to $5 billion in share sale to capitalize on red-hot investor demand

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Tesla plans to raise up to $5 billion in share sale to capitalize on red-hot investor demand
Tesla Model X at a new Tesla showroom in Shanghai in May.Yilei Sun/Reuters
  • Tesla is planning to sell up to $5 billion in new shares right after its stock split, a Tuesday filing said.
  • Tesla's 5-for-1 stock split went into effect on Monday.
  • A $5 billion share sale would represent roughly 1% of the tech titan's market value.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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Tesla plans to sell up to $5 billion in new shares as investor demand for the electric-vehicle maker's stock shows no signs of abating.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday said Tesla would sell the shares in an "at the market" offering, or ATM. ATMs allow a company to sell new shares directly into the market through a broker-dealer at current prices, but in any specified amount and over any period of time. Traditional capital raisings are usually done in one batch at a fixed price.

Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Securities, SG Americas Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, and BNP Paribas Securities will be involved, the filing said.

Read more: David Baron's fund has returned 93% to investors in the last 12 months thanks to a Tesla bet 5 years ago. He told us why he thinks the electric-car behemoth has much further to run, despite its huge rally.

Tesla shares, which have rallied almost 500% so far this year to record highs, are among the best performers on Wall Street. A $5 billion share sale would represent only about 1% of Tesla's market cap, which as of Monday's close was $498 billion.

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The company's 5-for-1 stock split, aimed at making its shares more affordable for smaller investors, came into effect on Monday. Tesla stock surged by as much as 12%, to $498 per share.

Read more: US Investing Championship hopeful Matthew Caruso landed a 382% return in the first half of 2020. He shares the unique twist he's putting on a classic trading strategy — and 3 stocks he's holding right now.

Since August 11, when Tesla said it would enact the stock split, its shares have added more than 70%, even though a split changes nothing about a company's underlying fundamentals.

Despite Tesla's stunning rise to become the ninth-largest publicly traded company based in the US, it still is not part of the benchmark S&P 500, but this looks likely to change. After reporting its fourth straight quarter of profitability in July, the electric-car maker became eligible to be included in the index.

Read more: JPMorgan lays out 2 reasons 'bulletproof'-looking tech stocks are actually at serious risk — and shares 2 simple trades for investors looking to protect themselves

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