By WU Qingqing

An additional 225 million shares of BYD, about the size of Berkshire Hathaway's holding, appeared on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's clearing system on Monday, sparking speculation that famed investor Warren Buffett is bearish about the carmaker. BYD shares fell 13 percent on Tuesday.

In a letter to Jiemian News, BYD said that there had been no disclosure about any major shareholder cutting its holding, which is required by the exchange. Operations are normal, it said, and everything is orderly and fine.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange shows no recent record of shareholders with a larger than 5 percent stake buying or selling BYD. Berkshire Hathaway owns 7.7 percent through a wholly-owned subsidiary called Western Capital Group LLC.

Northeast Securities said in a newsletter that it had heard of no plan to sell BYD “in its recent exchange with Berkshire Hathaway.” But people familiar with the exchange said it was still possible that the 225 million shares came from Berkshire Hathaway. One possibility is that the disclosure is coming but late. Another is that some short sellers borrowed the shares from Berkshire Hathaway.

Currently, all 225 million shares are held in custodian accounts with Citigroup.

Warren Buffett’s company first bought 225 million shares of BYD in 2008 at HK$8 a share. The carmaker was trading at HK$331 per share two weeks ago, indicating a more than 40-fold gain for Berkshire Hathaway.

BYD has increased its production and sales amid massive supply chain disruption. It sold more EVs than Tesla in the first half of this year – more than 641,000 units, a 315 percent increase – and became the world's largest EV seller.

Many analysts upgraded their rating to ‘buy’ after its half-year numbers were published.