On March 2, 2023, market analyst Grizzly Research published a report on ZTO Express called “ZTO Express Inc. (NYSE: ZTO): China’s “Best-in-Class” Logistics Company is Really “Best in Show”; We Believe Financials are Fake and Insiders are Stealing from the Company.” The report alleged, among other things, that ZTO Express has falsified various financial metrics in its Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including its margins, by understating revenues and overstating net profit. Further, the report alleged, among other things, that ZTO Express underreports employees to decrease its costs, that its utilizes “sham network partner acquisitions to enrich insiders” and engages in undisclosed related party transactions.
On this news, ZTO Express’s American Depositary Share (“ADR”) price fell $1.06, or 4.32%, per ADR in intraday trading.
