What happened
After rising in February, shares of QuantumScape (QS -1.98%) powered down during the first full week of trading in March. The solid-state battery maker's stock dipped in response to news of insider selling and an overall sense of pessimism surrounding the electric vehicle (EV) industry.
According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, shares of QuantumScape fell by 20.4% from the end of last Friday's trading session through the end of trading on Thursday.
So what
QuantumScape CEO Jagdeep Singh was busy this week trimming his position in the company's stock. On Monday, Singh sold 478,747 shares, netting himself more than $4.3 million. The selling spree continued on Tuesday and Wednesday when he sold 301,406 shares and 355,000 shares, respectively. In total, Jagdeep Singh recognized more than $9.6 million this week from stock sales.
Similarly, between Monday and Tuesday, Chief Development Officer Mohit Singh sold a combined 150,000 shares for a total of more than $1.36 million.
Waning consumer enthusiasm for some EVs is also contributing to QuantumScape's sell-off this week. Lucid recently reported declining reservations, and Rivian failed to provide encouraging news in its latest quarterly report. For an EV battery maker like QuantumScape, this trend could be troubling if it persists.
Now what
Although the market's not charged up about QuantumScape this week, long-term investors shouldn't race to exit their positions. Insiders sell shares for a variety of reasons. If traders are jumping to click the sell button because they assume the recent insider sales signal that something's fundamentally wrong with the company, they may be acting in too much haste. The better course of action now is simply to stand pat with this solid-state battery stock.
