Plans to expand into Britain and continental Europe have been suspended until next year
The U.S.-listed shares of Chinese ride-hailing name DiDi Global Inc (NYSE:DIDI) have felt the repercussions of the region's regulatory pressures since their debut on Wall Street back in late June. Now, these regulations are putting a wrench in DiDi's plans to launch in Britain and continental Europe. The staff working on these launches said that they have ceased hiring in Britain and suspended their plans for at least a year, as backlash from the Chinese government over data privacy weighs.
The suspension isn't deterring traders, however, and DIDI looks to be staging a bounce off its Aug. 19, all-time closing low of $7.18. The equity was last seen up 5% at $8.11, set for its third-straight win. DIDI still has a ways to go, though, as it's still looking up at its freshly formed 10-day moving average, and sports a 45% quarter-to-date deficit.
Since we last checked in on the security amid a cybersecurity review by the Chinese government, only one analyst is in coverage, maintaining a "buy" rating, and a $25 price target. Meanwhile, short interest has declined slightly during its last reporting period, dropping 15.7% to 59.5 million shares sold short.
Options bulls are coming out of the woodwork this morning. Already, 18,000 calls have exchanged hands, double the intraday average, and almost four times the number of puts exchanged. The most popular contract so far is the weekly 8/27 8.50-strike call, followed by the 8-strike call in the same series.