Chinese Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Stock Gains 50% In One Day

Shares of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi soared 50% in premarket trade in the U.S. on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported regulators in China are concluding investigations into the firm.

According to the report, authorities said they would lift a ban on Didi adding new users as early as next week and reinstate the firm’s app in domestic app stores, citing people familiar with the matter.

Didi shares added over 50 percentage points ‘in premarket trade.

By the end of 2020, China has led a crackdown on its domestic technology sector in areas from antitrust to data protection. However, there have been signs of regulatory easing from Beijing as China deals with the economic fallout from weeks of lockdown in Shanghai.

Didi was severely hit by the tightening of regulations. In 2021, the company went through IPO (initial public offering). But, only a few days after going public, Chinese regulators opened a cybersecurity probe into the ride-hailing company. 

In July, the Cyberspace Administration of China accused Didi of illegally collecting users’ data and ordered its app removed from local app stores.