Charles J. Meyers, president and CEO of Equinix, poses in his workplace in Redwood Metropolis, Calif., Dec. 18, 2018.Nhat V. Meyer | Bay Digital First Media | The Mercury Information through Getty ImagesHindenburg Analysis on Wednesday took goal at Equinix, the $80 billion knowledge heart supplier, and accused the corporate’s administration of promoting shareholders an “AI pipe dream” whereas manipulating key metrics to spice up the looks of profitability.Hindenburg mentioned it had taken a brief place in opposition to Equinix, that means it was betting that shares of the true property funding belief, or REIT, would fall.Equinix shares plunged as a lot as 7% in pre-market buying and selling earlier than paring again losses at Wednesday’s open to round 3%.The corporate’s clients embody the cloud divisions of Amazon, Google and Microsoft, in accordance with Equinix’s web site.”We’re investigating the claims and we’ll reply sooner or later,” an Equinix spokesperson advised CNBC.The quick vendor mentioned that Equinix reported upkeep bills — a serious value heart for REITs — as spending on development, making it seem that “that the corporate’s value to keep up its income base is decrease than it really is.”Former Equinix staff and executives allegedly advised Hindenburg that the stress to misclassify capex as development fairly than upkeep got here “from high administration.”Hindenburg mentioned that the “questionable” accounting allowed Equinix to spice up its adjusted funds from operations, a metric the corporate additionally used to find out government inventory grants.Equinix was based in 1998 and have become a REIT in 2015. It had greater than 13,000 staff as of December 2023, in accordance with a regulatory submitting.In its more moderen earnings experiences, the corporate has touted its “essential” position “in an AI-driven world.”Hindenburg has taken quick positions in opposition to different large names, together with Nikola, Icahn Enterprises and Gautam Adani’s conglomerate.