VinFast Stock’s Wild Ride Continues After $1 Billion Funding Deal.

“This new source of equity funding provides us with valuable optionality and access to capital to continue to expand our business on a global scale, ” said CFO David Mansfield in a news release. “While we are under no obligation to draw on the full amount, the transaction aligns with our goals of opportunistic capital raising while adding liquidity to our shares over time.”

Investors know VinFast needs to raise money to continue to develop its business because it isn’t profitable yet. At current prices, the $1 billion would turn into about 175 million shares or about 8% of the current 2.3-plus billion shares outstanding.

VinFast ended September with about $131 million on its books. The company reported a third-quarter operating loss of about $370 million on sales of about $343 million.

VinFast stock was up in premarket trading after the deal was announced but has turned lower then rose and fell again. It was down 0.9% at 9:25 a.m. Friday, while
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
futures were down 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

That kind of volatility is the norm for this stock. VinFast stock has moved an average of 18%, up or down, each day since completing its merger with a special purpose acquisition company in mid-August.

Trading volatility has come down, but it’s still extreme. Over the past 20 trading days heading into Friday, the average daily move up or down was almost 8%.

Shares hit $93 on August 28. They closed Thursday at $5.69, down 94%. It’s been a wild ride.

At current prices, VinFast has a market value of roughly $13 billion, about $3 billion more than
Rivian Automotive’s
(RIVN) market cap net of the cash it has on the books.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]