Shares of Warsaw-listed brokerage XTB plunged 15% to PLN 156.52 Thursday after the company's co-founder offloaded another massive block of stock, compounding a regulatory blow from just one day earlier.

  • The Founder's Fifth Sale in Three Years Raises a Pattern Question. XX ZW Investment Group, the vehicle owned by co-founder Jakub Zabłocki, sold 9.4 million shares — 8% of the company — for about $410 million (1.5 billion zlotys).

The sale cuts Zabłocki's stake to 27.78% from 35.78% and marks at least his fifth reduction since 2023. He held roughly 67% just three years ago. A founder steadily shrinking from two-thirds ownership to barely over a quarter sends an unmistakable signal: whatever XTB's growth story, its biggest insider wants less exposure to it. Each block sale also floods the market with new supply, pressuring the stock mechanically.

  • The Discount Is Getting Wider. The latest sale was priced at about an 8% discount to the prior close of over PLN 174.

Shares were priced at 160 zlotys each. In May 2025, the PLN 78 sale price was done at a 7.7% discount to XTB's closing price. A widening discount means the bookrunners needed to offer a bigger sweetener to clear the block — a sign that institutional appetite for absorbing founder supply may be thinning. That's a warning about near-term demand despite the stock's ~140% year-to-date rally.

  • A Regulatory Fine Added Fuel to the Fire. XTB shares had already slipped 5% on Wednesday after Poland's KNF upheld a PLN 20 million (~$5.35 million) fine covering customer checks, product targeting, conflict controls, and CFD risk disclosures.

The KNF issued the final decision on August 28, leaving in place the penalty first imposed on March 30 after XTB asked for reconsideration. The fine itself is small against analysts' forecasts of about 1 billion zlotys in full-year 2026 net profit , but it removes the possibility of a favorable appeal and signals tighter scrutiny of how XTB sells complex products to retail traders.

  • STOXX 600 Entry Could Provide a Floor — Eventually. XTB said its shares will enter the STOXX Europe 600 on September 21, which can bring demand from funds and ETFs that track the benchmark.

The broker also posted a record Q1 2026 net profit of 535 million zlotys, up almost 176% year over year. Those fundamentals haven't changed. But passive-fund buying is a slow, mechanical process — it won't immediately absorb the overhang of a founder who has now sold roughly $1 billion in stock since 2023 and still holds 28%.