Last Thursday Citibank downgraded A2 from a Buy to a Sell and changed it's price target from $7.02 to $4.80. The two main reasons it gave for this were (a) China's Covid lockdown and (b) the upcoming audit by China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Citi says there is no guarantee that the SAMR will grant A2 approval to trade in China.
Does anyone have any additional insight into how SAMR approval works? From the little I have been able to find, the SAMR was created in 2018 and it's main aim seems to be to block foreign competition in the Chinese domestic market.
The audit is due in June/July of this year. Citibank says the audit has been delayed and this is bad sign. Why is delaying the audit a bad sign? I assume A2 has been approved by the previous audit and is still able to sell in the Chinese market until the next audit is conducted.
If anyone has any light they can shed on this it would be appreciated.
A2M Price at posting:
$5.04 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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