What happened
Woe betide any company that finds itself the subject of a report from a short-seller firm. On Thursday, one unfortunate target of such a publication was Chinese B2B e-commerce company GigaCloud Technology (GCT -2.78%). Its shares took quite a hit as a result, and by the end of the trading session they had lost nearly 19% of their value.
So what
The short-seller firm, Culper Research, published its highly critical take on GigaCloud before market open. Culper suggested the e-commerce specialist was stretching the truth about its operations in the U.S., inspiring it to short the company's stock.
In particular, Culper zeroed in on the 14 warehouses GigaCloud claims to operate in the country. The short-seller pointed out, however, that the company only discloses 73 employees across its operations in the U.S.; this would equate to an average of barely over five employees per facility. Culper added that recent visits to GigaCloud warehouses revealed a significant lack of activity.
The researcher also took aim at GigaCloud's recent pronouncements about its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. This is particularly relevant, as AI continues to be a white-hot area of interest for investors. Yet Culper pointed out that GigaCloud's moves in AI are unsupported by hard figures -- it said that the company does not disclose line items like software development expenses or capitalized software costs.
Now what
The 27-page report also covers such areas as management and GigaCloud's apparent lack of a meaningful transportation operation. The publication's accusations are extensive, and backed with numerous pieces of evidence. Given that, it's no wonder investors assertively sold out of the stock on Thursday.
GigaCloud has not yet publicly responded to Culper's report.
