The company's stock has tumbled by close to a third in the last three months, with a whopping CNY 240 billion (USD 37.80 billion) pared off its market cap
The world's biggest EV battery maker CATL claimed to have called the police to report what it said are "malicious rumors" directed against it.
In an official WeChat post on February 12, the battery giant issued a sternly worded rebuttal, denying claims that it had been placed under US sanction, removed from the ChiNext Market's weighted stocks and run into an impasse in its talks with major client Tesla.
CATL's statement seems to be sparked by word over the weekend that BYD had beat CATL to EV battery orders for 204,000 Tesla-built cars every year, with production slated to begin in March this year.
In response to a screenshot that went viral on February 8, which alleged that CATL has triggered systemic risks and prompted regulators to weigh eliminating it from the Growth Enterprise Market Weighted Stock Index, the Fujian-based company also dismissed the claim as unfounded "slander."
CATL said such allegations are unsubstantiated rumors that misled the market and marred the company's reputation.
BYD didn't comment on the episode involving CATL.
The EV battery behemoth is also in a dispute with another local battery manufacturer following a lawsuit it filed against Svolt, an EV battery entity spun off from China's Great Wall Motor. CATL accused nine former employees of violating the non-competition agreement to work for Svolt.
The spate of lawsuits and mudslingning against CATL has sent its shares plunging to record lows, down 33% from a high of CNY 692 (USD 108.98) per share on December 3,2021. It has also nosedived 21% during the same period on the Growth Enterprise Index, enough to be deemed technical bears.
Although there seems to be no end in sight for its stock slump, slices of the market are still relatively bullish on the thriving tech giant.
Last week, an investment bank published a research report saying CATL could still fall 20%, but the report was quickly deleted. Besides, CITIC Securities has bet on CATL's solid fundamentals. Soochow Securities even predicted a 80% surge in the company's stock prices.
CATL closed at CNY 508 per share on Monday, with a market value of CNY 1.18 trillion.