Shares of Argo Blockchain PLC (LON: ARB) plunged 19.8% despite announcing that 4,500 Bitmain Antminer S19 and S19 pro miners from the Celsius Network were now fully operational.
Many people were surprised to see Argo’s shares drop almost 20% despite the announcement, which is a positive development that should have triggered a rally in its shares under normal circumstances.
Argo reported late yesterday that CEO Peter Wall's and other top executives exercised options to buy shares at 7p and 13p while selling some of their existing shares. Peter Wall sold 1.525 million shares at 243p, while Ian MacLeod sold 900,000 shares at 231p. Lastly, Matthew Shaw sold 506,626 shares at 251p.
It all became clear when Peter Wall, Argo’s CEO, explained in an interview today that he and the other executives had decided to sell some of their shares to unlock some of the value in their portfolio’s given the recent rally.
Peter clarified that he still believes in the company and is committed to its future success, but selling some of his shares was a personal decision that did not indicate any internal problems.
Selling shares to capitalise on significant gains in a company’s stock price is a common practice among executives who are usually required to hold on to shares they have acquired as part of their compensation for a period of time before selling.
Argo shares had recouped the majority of their losses at writing. It seems that investors understood the CEO’s message regarding the recent divestments by Argo’s top executives.
The company’s shares have benefitted immensely from the recent run-up in crypto prices as they are up 657% this year, having posted gains of over 3,900% over the past six months.
Argo Blockchain share price.
Argo Blockchain shares plunge 19.84% to trade at 210p, falling from Thursday’s closing price of 262p.