While Muddy Waters' report did not relate to TAL Education's (TAL) core businesses, the fraud claims are serious nonetheless and would cast concerns over the company's integrity should management be unable to provide a satisfactory explanation, Jefferies analyst Johnny Kin Man Wong tells investors in a research note. The analyst expects share price volatility and notes that New Oriental Education's (EDU) stock price fell from $22.26 to $9.47, or 57.5%, over the course of two days when similar short reports arose in July 2012. Wong has a Buy rating on TAL Education with a $42.50 price target.

Reports Q4 revenue $429.56M, consensus $389.78M. "We ended the 2024 fiscal year with continued development across our core businesses, each delivering distinct value propositions to our customers." said Alex Peng, TAL's president and CFO.