On January 9, 2024, market analyst Gotham City Research LLC released a report entitled, “Grifols SA: Scranton and the Undisclosed Debts.” The report claimed Grifols “artificially reduced leverage by consolidating earnings of units it doesn’t control and has overstated profit.” In addition, the report stated “[Grifols] manipulates reported debt & EBITDA to artificially reduce reported leverage to 6x which we believe is closer to 10x-13x.” The report concluded if these estimates are correct, Grifols “will face notably higher financing costs. Consequently, we believe shares are uninvestable, likely zero.”
On this news, Grifols’s American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) fell $2.43 per ADR, or 21%, to close at $8.70 per ADR on January 9, 2024.