Ather Energy shares fall 4%, snap 5-day gaining streak. What’s triggering the sharp fall?

Shares of Ather Energy fell 4% to Rs 1,742 on the BSE on Thursday, ending a five-session winning streak as the shareholder lock-in period expired. The expiry releases shares held by investors under the lock-in that had been in place for around one-and-a-half years or longer.According to Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research, approximately 77 million Ather Energy shares will become eligible for trading following the expiry. These shares account for 21% of the company's total outstanding equity.The value refers to the total shares becoming eligible for trading as lock-up periods end. However, not all of these shares are expected to be sold in the secondary market, as a substantial portion remains held by promoter groups who typically continue to retain their stakes.Ather Energy Q2 snapshotLast month, the EV scooter-maker reported its first quarterly net profit of Rs 1.26 crore in the September quarter of FY27, marking a sharp turnaround from a net loss of Rs 154 crore in the year-ago period. The sharp turnaround was supported by a strong revenue growth of nearly 63% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,464 crore during the quarter under review.The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) turned positive at Rs 11.3 crore, against an EBITDA loss of Rs 133 crore a year earlier. The EBITDA margin stood at 0.77%. “We are not out of the woods. There is a lot of work for us to deliver on. The focus is on the top line. Improving volume will itself take care of operating leverage, if all the capacity work we are putting in bears fruit over the next few months. In the near term it can go up and down, but it is definitely worth celebrating this milestone for the business,” Tarun Mehta, CEO, Ather Energy, said.Nomura increased its target price for the shares of Ather Energy to Rs 2,070 apiece from Rs 1,926, while maintaining its ‘Buy’ rating. The international brokerage reaffirmed Ather Energy as its top pick in the two-wheeler space. It noted that the company’s industry-leading tech pack, improving reach, and product portfolio make it best-positioned to benefit from the EV inflection and resulting increase in EV salience of OEMs.Disclaimer: This article has been written by Veer Sharma, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Veer Sharma and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here