Sivers Semiconductors: CEO Bets on Recovery While Board Members Cash Out After Lock-Up

Board members sell millions in shares after lock-up expiry, while CEO Vathulya buys 70,000 shares; stock plunges 68% from 52-week high.

The story playing out at Sivers Semiconductors is one of starkly contrasting insider behavior, as the expiry of a share lock-up agreement has triggered a wave of selling from board members while the chief executive doubles down on his own position. The stock, already under severe pressure, closed at €3.26 on Wednesday before sliding another 13.53% the following day, extending its 30-day decline to roughly 60%.

From the 52-week high of €10.23 reached on June 3, the shares have now surrendered more than 68% of their value. The sell-off has been brutal, yet the company’s CEO is moving in the opposite direction.

A Boardroom Divided

Chairman Bami Bastani has been active on multiple fronts since the lock-up agreement tied to the April 16 equity issuance expired on July 16. He donated 60,000 shares to independent charitable organizations, gifted another 70,000 to family members, and sold 275,000 shares outright on the expiration date itself. Following these transactions, Bastani retains 381,360 shares, with a portion now subject to a fresh one-year lock-up period.

Board member Todd Thomson moved even more aggressively through his investment vehicle Headwaters Capital LLC. By July 22, Thomson had sold 950,000 shares and donated a further 50,000 to a charity. Despite the reduction, he remains the largest shareholder among the board members, with a remaining stake of 477,027 shares.

Thomson also represents the interests of Kairos Ventures, which originally acquired its position in Sivers through the 2022 sale of its portfolio company Mixcomm to the semiconductor firm. Kairos’ investment committee has now decided to distribute part of its remaining holding to investors and liquidate the rest.

Not everyone on the inside is heading for the exit. CEO Vickram Vathulya purchased 70,000 additional shares, boosting his total holdings to 4,540,076 shares, alongside 3.7 million employee options. His buying comes just weeks after a broader board purchase program concluded in early July, under which Bastani, Thomson, and other directors acquired shares subject to a mandatory 12-month holding period.

Short Sellers Retreat Even as Volatility Spikes

One counterweight to the insider selling pressure is the quiet retreat of short sellers. Two Sigma Investments no longer reports a public short position in Sivers shares, having fallen below the 0.5% reporting threshold set by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Only one publicly disclosed short seller remains, with a position equivalent to 2.76% of the company’s share capital.

The technical picture, however, remains deeply unsettled. The 50-day moving average sits at €6.04 — nearly double the current price — illustrating how far and fast the stock has diverged from its medium-term trend. The relative strength index hovers around 38, approaching oversold territory, while the annualized 30-day volatility stands at roughly 165%, underscoring the ferocity of recent swings around insider transactions and short positioning.

Quiet Period Ahead of Quarterly Results

Under the EU Market Abuse Regulation, a closed period begins on July 28, barring all insiders from trading in the company’s financial instruments until the second-quarter 2026 interim report is published on August 27, before trading opens on Nasdaq Stockholm. That means no further insider transactions will move the stock for the next several weeks, leaving the market to digest the existing divergence between a buying CEO and a selling board.

For investors, the next major catalyst will be the quarterly numbers themselves. Until then, the unresolved tension at the top of Sivers Semiconductors leaves the stock suspended between conflicting signals — with no new facts to break the deadlock until late August.