At least four out of 10 Adani group stocks namely Adani Power Ltd, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd had recovered fully from the Hindenburg Research's January 2023 allegations of fraud and brazen stock price manipulation by the Adani group, before the US-based short seller came out with a second report on August 10 -- this time claiming SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had investments with a fund tied to the Adani group.
Investors should remain calm and exercise due diligence before reacting to such reports, SEBI said on Sunday. Investors may also like to take note of the disclaimer in the report that states that readers should assume that Hindenburg Research may have short positions in the securities covered in the report, SEBI added.
At Friday's close, Adani Power shares were up 153 per cent at Rs 695.10 over January 24, 2023's closing level of Rs 274.80. This is as per the data compiled from corporate database AceEquity. On Monday, this scrip tumbled 10.94 per cent to hit a low of Rs 619 on BSE.
Adani Ports shares were up 101 per cent since Hindenburg's 2023 allegations. This scrip was trading 4.95 per cent lower at Rs 1,457.35 in Monday's session.
As of Friday's close, Ambuja Cements Ltd shares were up 27 per cent, while those of ACC were trading marginally higher than where they were in January 2023. The two scrips fell 2-3 per cent today.
Adani Green Energy and Adani Enterprises Ltd were down 6-7 per cent since January 2023 levels. On Monday, Adani Green Energy tanked 6.96 per cent to Rs 1,656.05, while Adani Enterprises sank 5.27 per cent to hit a low of Rs 3,018.55.
Adani Total Gas Ltd, Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, Adani Wilmar Ltd and New Delhi Television Ltd shares were down 26-78 per cent since Hindenburg Reserach 2023 report. These stocks nosedived up to 17 per cent earlier today, before staging smart recovery.
SEBI said the markets regulator had by January 3 completed 22 out of 24 investigations into the Adani group. Subsequently, one more investigation was completed in March 2024, and one remaining investigation is close to completion.
Stock prices are slaves to earnings, said Kranthi Bathini, Director of Equity Strategy at WealthMills Securities.
Bathini noted that he would be more concerned if the Hindenburg report raised issues that could impact the Adani group’s earnings. He remarked that aside from the allegations concerning the SEBI Chair, "Most of the claims in the report are already known to the market. Such reports have circulated for some time. Except for a potential knee-jerk reaction lasting a day or two, I doubt the fresh report will significantly harm the Adani group’s earnings potential in the medium to long term."
Vinit Bolinjkar of Ventura Securities does not see Hindenburg allegations as serious. "They are recycling of the same thing. They are trying to connect one event around and into the other, without giving any evidence of criminality. It is old wine in a new bottle, recycled and desperate."
Bolinjkar said though the report could have some impact on Adani stocks and the market in the short term, they should recover soon. Bathini said any steep fall in Adani group stocks could be a buying opportunity.