INTRODUCTION
Hindenburg Research is an independent investment research firm that conducts investigative research on companies, often intending to expose fraudulent or unethical practices. The firm was founded in 2017 by Nathan Anderson, a former portfolio manager at hedge fund Teton Capital. The firm’s name is a reference to the infamous 1937 Hindenburg disaster, in which a German airship caught fire and crashed in New Jersey[1].
Hindenburg Research uses a range of methods to conduct its research, including document analysis, interviews with industry experts and insiders, and data analysis. The firm’s reports typically include detailed analyses of financial statements, corporate governance practices, and market trends, as well as allegations of wrongdoing and evidence to support those allegations.
Hindenburg Research earns profits through a variety of means. One potential source of income is short selling. Short selling is a trading strategy in which an investor borrows shares of stock from a broker, sells those shares on the market, and then hopes to buy them back at a lower price in the future. If the price of the stock does indeed decline, the investor can buy the shares back at a lower price and pocket the difference between the sale price and the buyback price. Short selling can be a risky and controversial strategy, as it involves betting against the success of a company and can potentially harm other investors in the process. Additionally, Hindenburg Research earns money from consulting services, such as advising companies on how to improve their financial reporting and governance practices.
HINDENBURG REPORT ON NIKOLA
According to its website, Hindenburg has flagged potential wrongdoing in at least 16 companies since 2017.[2] The Hindenburg Research published a report on Nikola that accused the electric vehicle company Nikola of making false and misleading statements about its technology and capabilities. The report caused a significant drop in Nikola’s stock price and led to an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.[3]
Hindenburg Research’s report on Nikola was highly detailed and contained a range of allegations against the company, including claims that the company had misled investors about the capabilities of its hydrogen fuel cell technology, that it had staged a promotional video showing a prototype vehicle driving, and that it had made misleading statements about its partnership with General Motors.
Critics of Hindenburg Research have questioned the accuracy and motivations behind the report. Some have argued that the firm had a short position in Nikola’s stock and stood to benefit from a decline in the company’s stock price. Others have suggested that the firm may have had a conflict of interest, as it had previously invested in another electric vehicle company, which could have influenced its negative view of Nikola.
Despite these criticisms, the report did raise important questions about Nikola’s business practices and management, which ultimately led to the resignation of the company’s founder and executive chairman, Trevor Milton, and an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
WHO IS IN THE ADANI GROUP
The Ahmedabad-based Adani Group is a global company in India. It was established by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading corporation, with Adani Enterprises as its centrepiece.
It comprises of 7 publicly traded companies[4]:
- Adani Ports
- Adani Wilmar
- Adani Enterprises Ltd
- Adani Transmission Ltd
- Adani Green Energy Ltd
- Adani Power Ltd
- Adani Total Gas Ltd
WHAT DOES HINDENBURG STAND TO GAIN OUT OF ADANI’S MISERY
Hindenburg’s bet has been lucrative so far. Its allegations, which the Indian conglomerate has denied, have wiped out more than $80 billion of market value from its seven listed companies and knocked billionaire Gautam Adani from his perch as the world’s third-richest man.[5] Hindenburg may stand to gain financially from Adani’s alleged misery. Hindenburg also plans to carry on the “sell high, buy low” approach[6] with Adani Group enterprises. The company has revealed that it has employed US-traded bonds and swaps to maintain “short” bets on Adani equities. In this way, the short position will benefit Hindenburg when the market prices of the underlying Adani stocks decline. The more the fall, the more money Hindenburg will make. The company has a history of publishing research reports critical of other companies, though Adani was its first target in the Indian Equity Market[7]. Hindenburg had previously shorted stocks that they believe to be overpriced.
Adani Group, however, is far bigger than any of the businesses that Hindenburg has thus yet targeted. The US company has its eyes set for the first time on a company that is listed on the Indian public markets. Adani group has lost almost Rs 4 lakh crore over the past two trading days after Hindenburg made public their short position on the company.[8]
As a result, since the Hindenburg-Adani tragedy began, Gautam Adani has slipped to 24th spot on Forbes’ worldwide real-time billionaire list[9]. Adani, who lost $28 billion in wealth, or Rs 3,000 crore a week in 2022-2023 due to the scathing Hindenburg report, slipped to the second spot among Indian billionaires[10].
Furthermore, the timing of the announcement looks questionable, particularly given that Adani was attempting to raise capital. The Hindenburg Research was released only two days before the 27 January 2023 opening of subscriptions for Adani Enterprises’ Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) of 20,000 crores, the largest FPO in Indian history. Uncertainty surrounds the size of Hindenburg’s short position.[11] Yet, if the market’s attitude during the previous trading days is any indication, the company run by Asia’s richest man has undoubtedly suffered a significant setback. It is also obvious that for Adani Group to regain the market value it has lost, more than simply verbal refutations of purportedly obsolete arguments would be required.
IMPACT ON THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET
India’s stock market is facing two significant challenges simultaneously. Firstly, the value of the Indian rupee is decreasing, which can lead to a decrease in foreign investment and make imports more expensive. Secondly, the Adani Group, a conglomerate of companies in India, is facing a massive drop in their stock prices due to negative reports released by Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-selling firm[12]. The significant drop in Adani’s stock prices had a ripple effect on the entire Indian equity market, as Adani Group is a major player in various industries such as energy, infrastructure, and ports. Investors have become hesitant to invest in Indian companies, fearing similar issues may arise elsewhere. The report has raised questions about the group’s accounting practices, which has caused investors to lose confidence in the company. As a result, the Adani Group’s stock prices fell by 25% in just one day, resulting in a loss of around $13 billion in market capitalization. The six listed companies of the group lost a combined market capitalization of over $20 billion in just a few days[13]. Several indices depend heavily on the group’s equities, and their collapse has affected the sentiment of the market as a whole. Investors’ loss of faith in other businesses as a result of the Adani Group’s accounting issues has resulted in a broader market sell-off.[14]
CONCLUSION
The allegations imposed on the Adani Group have created a significant impact on the Indian stock market, causing a decrease in investor confidence and losses in investor wealth. SEBI has stated that it has surveillance procedures in place to address any undue volatility in certain shares and that any information on a specific entity that comes to its attention will be investigated in accordance with current policies before taking the necessary action. The Adani Group has led three of its companies are being placed under short-term additional surveillance measures by the stock exchanges BSE and NSE.
While the Adani Group has denied the allegations and called them baseless, the most recent update is that the Supreme Court has ordered SEBI to wrap up its investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg case along with a status report within two months.[15] It has also established an expert group to assess the regulatory framework in light of the Adani-Hindenburg problem. Overall, this situation highlights the need for transparency, accountability, and effective regulation in the Indian stock market to protect investors and maintain market stability. Regulatory bodies such as SEBI need to continue their surveillance and investigation efforts to ensure that the interests of investors are protected and that any fraudulent activities are identified and addressed promptly.
Author(s) Name: Diya Pasari & Ms. Aishwarya Gupta (Amity University Kolkata)
References:
[1] Team, B.S.W. (2023) Hindenburg research, “All you need to know about US-based investment firm, Business Standard News” < https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/hindenburg-research-all-you-need-to-know-about-us-based-investment-firm-123012600203_1.html > accessed on March 13, 2023.
[2] About Us (2023) Hindenburg Research < https://hindenburgresearch.com/about-us/ > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[3] ibid.
[4] Adani Group – Growth with Goodness < https://www.adani.com/About-us > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[5] Ramakrishna S, Bayliss SH and Mandl C, “Hindenburg Bet against India’s Adani Puzzles Rival U.S. Short Sellers” (Investing.com February 2, 2023) < https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/hindenburg-bet-against-%20indias-adani-puzzles-rival-us-short-sellers-2993699 > accessed on March 10, 2023
[6] Sarraf R, Dua P and Joshi K. “The Long and Short of Short Selling” < https://www.natlawreview.com/article/long-and-%20short-short-selling > accessed March 11, 2023
[7] About Us (2023) Hindenburg Research < https://hindenburgresearch.com/about-us/ > accessed on March 26, 2023
[8] Nikita Agarwal, “Rs 4 lakh crore gone in 2 days! Adani Bulls Nurse wounds after short-seller’s attack” ( The Economic Times, 27 January 2023) < https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/rs-4-lakh-crore-gone-in-2-days-adani-bulls-nurse-wounds-after-short-sellers-attack/articleshow/97369805.cms?from=mdr > accessed on March 26, 2023
[9] Real time billionaires Forbes < https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#453665643d78 > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[10] T.B.S.R. and Report, “Bloomberg billionaires index: Adani Slips from top 20 as rout deepens” (The Business Standard, 2023) < https://www.tbsnews.net/world/global-economy/bloomberg-billionaires-index-adani-slips-top-20-rout-deepens-579738 > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[11] Makwana, B. “Adani enterprises FPO subscribed just 2% amid allegations by Hindenburg Research”, (Business Insider 2023) < https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-enterprises-fpo-subscribed-just-2-amid-allegations-by-hindenburg-research/articleshow/97437900.cms > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[12] Vogue, M. (2023) Unveiling the impact: How the adani group hindenburg report is shaping the Indian Stock Market, Medium. Coinmonks < https://medium.com/coinmonks/unveiling-the-impact-how-the-adani-group-hindenburg-report-is-shaping-the-indian-stock-market-759535191dde> accessed on March 13, 2023.
[13] ibdi.
[14] Vishnoi, A. (2023) Adani shares Selloff Drags Group’s market value to under $100 billion, Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-21/adani-group-market-value-drops-below-100-billion-as-rout-widens#xj4y7vzkg > accessed on March 26, 2023.
[15] Anand U, “Adani vs Hindenburg: Supreme Court Orders Probe, Forms Experts Committee” (Hindustan Times March 2, 2023) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-orders-probe-into-adani-hindenburg-report-%20101677734258042.html > accessed March 10, 2023
