NEW YORK, April 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein
Liebhard LLP announced today that a class action has been filed in
the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California on behalf of all persons or
entities (the "Class") who purchased the common stock of Apple Inc.
("Apple" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: AAPL) during the period between
November 2, 2018 and January 2, 2019 (the "Class Period"). The
complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Apple designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics,
consumer software, and online services. The Company's most
well-known products include the iPad tablet, the Mac personal
computer, and the iPhone smartphone. The iPhone was responsible for
generating nearly two-thirds of Apple's revenue in 2018.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants
made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to
disclose adverse information regarding Apple's business and
prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose that: (a)
the U.S.-China trade war had
negatively impacted demand for iPhones and Apple's pricing power in
greater China; (b) due to Apple
discounting the cost of replacement batteries to make up for the
Company's prior conduct of intentionally degrading the performance
of the batteries in older iPhones, the rate at which Apple
customers were replacing their batteries in older iPhones, rather
than purchasing new iPhones, was negatively impacting Apple's
iPhone sales growth; (c) as a result of slowing demand, Apple had
slashed production orders from suppliers for the new 2018 iPhone
models and cut prices to reduce inventory; and (d) defendants'
decision to withhold unit sales for iPhones and other hardware,
which was a metric relevant to investors and their view of the
Company's financial performance, was designed to and would mask
declines in unit sales of the iPhone. As a result defendants'
failure to disclose this information, the price of Apple stock was
artificially inflated during the Class Period.
On January 2, 2019, after the
close of trading, Apple disclosed that first quarter fiscal 2019
revenues would be $84 billion -
approximately $5 billion below the
low-end of the forecasted range that the Company had announced just
eight weeks earlier on November 1,
2018, due to falling iPhone sales in China.
China is Apple's third-largest
market for iPhones behind only the United
States and Europe. The Company also admitted that
price cuts to replacement batteries, stemming from the Company's
prior conduct of intentionally reducing the performance of
batteries in older iPhones, was negatively impacting iPhone sales
growth.
On this news, Apple common stock fell more than $15 per share, or over 9%, to close at
$142.19 per share on January 3, 2019.
Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all Class
members who invested in Apple common stock during the Class
Period. If you invested in Apple common stock as described
above, and lost money on the transactions, you may wish to join in
this action to serve as lead plaintiff. In order to do so,
you must meet certain requirements set forth in the applicable law
and file appropriate papers no later than June 17, 2019.
A "lead plaintiff" is a representative party that acts on behalf
of other class members in directing the litigation. In order
to be appointed lead plaintiff, the court must determine that the
class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class
members, and that the class member will adequately represent the
class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members
may together serve as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share
in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether
or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Bernstein
Liebhard LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your
counsel in this action.
If you are interested in discussing your rights as an Apple
investor or have information relating to the matter, please
contact Joseph R. Seidman,
Jr. at (877) 779-1414
or seidman@bernlieb.com.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP has pursued hundreds
of securities, consumer and shareholder
rights cases and recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. The Firm
has been named to The National Law
Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and been
listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.
You can obtain a copy of the complaint from the clerk of the
court for the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. © 2019 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law
firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP,
10 East 40th Street, New York, New
York 10016, (212) 779-1414. The lawyer responsible for this
advertisement in the State of
Connecticut is Michael S. Bigin. Prior results do not
guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future
matter.
Contact Information
Joseph R. Seidman, Jr.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
http://www.bernlieb.com
(877) 779-1414
seidman@bernlieb.com
Related Links
https://www.bernlieb.com/cases/apple-aapl-class-action-lawsuit-fraud-stock-127/
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