TuSimple is delisting from the Nasdaq as it withdraws from the US

TuSimple, a Chinese autonomous trucking startup, has decided to delist itself from the Nasdaq stock exchange as part of its strategy to completely withdraw from the U.S. market.

The company has made an announcement stating that it will be submitting a Form 25 on or around January 29 to deregister its stock. It is anticipated that the shares will continue to be traded until approximately February 7.

TuSimple has made the decision to delist itself from the stock exchange due to several factors. According to a committee of independent directors, the company’s valuation and liquidity have decreased, and the volatility of its stock price has significantly increased. They have concluded that the costs of remaining a publicly traded company no longer outweigh the benefits. The company underwent a significant transformation since its initial public offering in 2021, experiencing a considerable decline in its valuation from over $8 billion to a current value of approximately $70 million. The value of its shares has significantly decreased from its peak of $62.58 to around 30 cents.

The committee also noted that there has been a notable change in capital markets since TuSimple’s initial public offering in 2021. This shift can be attributed to factors such as rising interest rates and quantitative tightening, which have influenced investor sentiment towards pre-commercialization technology growth companies. It is a statement that is both accurate and lacks any embellishment.

These explanations are all logical and expected, although they fail to fully capture the magnitude of what transpired at the company during the past two years. Prior to its public debut in 2021, TuSimple and its Chinese shareholders underwent a thorough examination by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Due to co-founder Mo Chen’s affiliation with another Chinese trucking startup, Hydron, the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission ended up looking into the startup. Chen subsequently assisted in the removal of Xiaodi Hou, a fellow co-founder of TuSimple, in late 2022, during a period when the startup was being investigated.

Since then, the company has faced ongoing challenges. It significantly reduced its workforce and showed indecisiveness in its approach, narrowly avoiding being delisted last May. The company made the strategic decision last year to completely withdraw from the U.S. market and shift its focus to China. Several trucks in the U.S. are currently being put up for auction, along with various other equipment, including the lidar sensors acquired from Hesai and Aeva.