Adani subsidiaries lose $70bn in value

In today’s top stories, companies owned by India’s Adani Group saw their share prices tumble following accusations of fraud. Elsewhere, China’s CN Energy Group was down 53.9% after announcing that it intends to offer its securities in a public offering, while Toyota was named the world’s top-selling automaker for the third consecutive year. In a critical week for big tech earnings, analysts are expecting Apple to report a fall in revenue, while China’s Baidu is set to launch its own artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to rival ChatGPT.

Adani fails to allay investor fear

Shares in a number of companies owned by India’s Adani Group closed in the red on Monday, including Adani Total Gas [ATGL.NS], which tumbled 20%. Billionaire Gautam Adani has failed to allay investor fears after a short seller alleged fraud. Though Adani has denied any wrongdoing, Hindenburg Research has responded saying the company “hasn’t addressed a single substantive issue we raised”. A total of $70bn has been wiped off the market caps of Adani’s subsidiaries.

CN Energy’s public offering

China’s CN Energy Group [CNEY] was down 53.9% pre-market on Monday morning, after announcing that it intends to offer its securities in a public offering. The funds raised are expected to go towards working capital. Last week, the energy firm announced it had established its US headquarters in Washington DC, where it’ll work to “accelerate its biochar and wood-based activated carbon businesses” in both North and South America.

Apple to avoid layoffs

It’s a critical week for big tech earnings. Analysts are expecting Apple [AAPL] to report a fall in revenue amid inflation and the lower discretionary spending environment. Nonetheless, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is confident that the Cupertino company “remains in a unique situation to withstand this economic storm better than its tech peers,” because roughly 20% of its iPhone customers haven’t upgraded their model in four years. Ives is expecting cost-cutting but not layoffs.

Toyota crowned world’s top automaker

Japan’s Toyota [TM] ended 2022 as the world’s top-selling automaker for the third consecutive year. The group’s total sales came in at 10.5 million units. While mostly flat year-over-year, these fared better than the 7% drop in sales to 8.3 million units reported by Volkswagen [VOW.DE]. Bloomberg reported that S&P Global Mobility expects the gap between the two automakers to widen in 2023, to 10.4 million units and 7.99 million units respectively.

Baidu to launch AI chatbot

Chinese internet search giant Baidu [9888.HK] is to launch its own AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT in March, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. At its annual flagship conference held in early January, Baidu unveiled AI creators that can assume the roles of screenwriter, illustrator, editor and animator in the generation and editing of video content. CEO and chairman Robin Li said that AI will help to drive healthy and sustainable growth.