Tesla Shares Surge on News of Another Stock Split

Shares of Tesla rose sharply Monday after the electric car maker announced its second stock split in less than two years. The company said in a regulatory filing, and also in a tweet, that it plans to make a request at its upcoming annual shareholders meeting to increase its number of authorized shares so that it can split the stock in the form of a dividend, per the AP. Shares jumped more than 6% before the market opened. Tesla Inc. said that its board has approved the proposal, but that the dividend is contingent on final board approval.

Tesla had a 5-for-1 stock split in September 2020, which went into effect one day after the company announced that it planned to sell up to $5 billion worth of its stock. Just three months later Tesla said that it was planning another stock sale, looking to raise up to $5 billion in that offering. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla said it would include more information, including the date and place of its annual shareholder meeting, in an upcoming proxy statement. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday that he "supposedly" has COVID again, this time with "almost no symptoms," per the Wall Street Journal.

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