South Korea’s retail investors are losing faith in Tesla’s stock, ramping up their selling last month amid growing disillusionment with the electric carmaker and rising interest in cryptocurrencies.
Individual investors in South Korea sold a net US$657 million of Tesla stock in August, the largest outflow since at least early 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations of depository data.
Investors have instead favoured even more volatile bets such as Bitmine Immersion Technologies, seen as a proxy for Ether, which drew US$253 million of net inflows.
The exodus signalled waning enthusiasm among one of Tesla’s most loyal global retail bases, whose buying sprees once amplified the stock’s rallies.
South Korean traders, who have been long drawn to high-profile US tech companies such as Tesla, are now putting their money elsewhere.
“Tesla used to offer a lot of inspiring narratives, but it has failed to win people’s hearts,” said Han Jungsu, a 33-year-old individual investor who first bought Tesla stock in 2019 but sold out earlier this year to focus on names he sees having more upside. “It has failed to lead with its own AI narrative.”