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Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against HireRight, Ocugen, Sonder, and QuidelOrtho Innovations and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm
Globe Newswire 29-May-2024 9:00 PM
NEW YORK, May 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of HireRight Holdings Corporation (NYSE:HRT), Ocugen, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCGN), Sonder Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SOND), and QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.
Class Period: pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents issued in connection with HireRight's October 2021 initial public offering (the "IPO" or "Offering")
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 3, 2024
HireRight provides technology-driven workforce risk management and compliance solutions to a customer base characterized as a "diverse set of organizations, from large-scale multinational businesses to small and medium-sized businesses, across a broad range of industries." The Company offers background screening, verification, identification, monitoring, and drug and health screening services for customers under the HireRight brand name and boasts a purportedly "robust pipeline of opportunities developed by [its] sales team to continue to attract new customers and take share in the market."
On October 6, 2021, HireRight filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which, after an amendment, was declared effective by the SEC on October 28, 2021 (the "Registration Statement").
On November 1, 2021, HireRight filed a prospectus on Form 424B4 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which incorporated and formed part of the Registration Statement (the "Prospectus" and, collectively with the Registration Statement, the "Offering Documents").
That same day, pursuant to the Offering Documents, HireRight's common stock began publicly trading on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the ticker symbol HRT.
Pursuant to the Offering Documents, HireRight issued approximately 22. million shares of its common stock to the public at the Offering price of $19.00 per share for proceeds to the Company of approximately $399 million after applicable underwriting discounts and commissions, and before expenses.
According to the complaint, the Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and was not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing its preparation. Specifically, the Offering Documents made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) HireRight was exposed to customers with significant employment and hiring risk and the Company derived greater revenue growth from existing client hiring than from new client hiring; (ii) as a result, the Company's revenue growth was unsustainable to the extent that it relied on the stability of its current customers' hiring and/or the profitability of securing new customers; (iii) accordingly, HireRight had overstated its post-IPO business and/or prospects; and (iv) as a result, Defendants' statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
On January 19, 2023, Stifel, a brokerage and investment banking firm, downgraded HireRight's stock from a Hold to a Buy, prompting several market analysts to issue publications discussing the downgrade. For example, Seeking Alpha reported that Stifel found HireRight to be exposed to large technology firms where there is more acute employment and hiring risk, and that more of the Company's growth comes from existing client hiring than from new.
On this news, HireRight's stock price fell $0.88 per share, or 7.5%, to close at $10.75 per share on January 19, 2023
At the time of the Complaint's filing, HireRight's common stock continue to trade below the $19.00 per share IPO price.
According to the filed complaint, defendants throughout the Class Period made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Ocugen's financial statements from May 8, 2020 to the present were materially misstated; (2) Ocugen did not have adequate internal controls; and (3) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all times.
According to the filed complaint, defendants throughout the Class Period made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Sonder failed to disclose all issues with its internal controls; (2) Sonder's financial statements for the 2022 Annual Report and the interim periods ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 2023 contained material errors in the way Sonder accounted for the valuation and impairment of operating lease right-of-use ("ROU") assets; (3) as a result, Sonder would need to restate its previously issued financial statements for those periods; and (4) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
Class Period: February 18, 2022 - April 1, 2024 (Common Stock Only)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 11, 2024
QuidelOrtho provides tests for the detection and diagnosis of various respiratory diseases and other medical conditions. The Company's respiratory business has historically been tied to the sale of seasonal flu tests and more recently to COVID-19 detection tests. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has generated a significant portion of its revenue through the sale of high-margin COVID-19 tests to government customers, healthcare providers (through its authorized distributors), and large retail pharmacy chains. QuidelOrtho manufactures respiratory tests under various brands, including QuickVue, Sofia, and Savanna.
In December 2022, the Company announced that it had agreed to merge with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Holdings plc ("Ortho"). The merger closed in May 2022, shortly after the start of the Class Period. Meanwhile, COVID-19 was transitioning from pandemic to "endemic" status (i.e., COVID-19 infections no longer growing exponentially). Despite COVID-19 transitioning into an endemic, Defendants assured investors that it was well positioned to maintain a stable high margin revenue stream from its respiratory business. Among other strategies, the Company aimed to launch its "next flagship product," a new test called the Savanna Respiratory Viral Panel-4 (the "Savanna RVP4 Test," which tests for COVID-19 along with other respiratory conditions) by utilizing Ortho's commercial distribution network. During the Class Period, the Savanna RVP4 Test was not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") to be marketed or sold in the United States. Therefore, investors closely monitored the Company's progress in getting the Savanna RVP4 Test approved.
According to the filed complaint, throughout the Class Period, Defendants misled investors by making statements that were false and misleading when made because they knew or deliberately disregarded and failed to disclose the following adverse facts about QuidelOrtho's business, operations, and prospects: (a) that QuidelOrtho sold more COVID-19 tests to its distributors and pharmacy chain customers than they could resell to healthcare providers and end customers; (b) that excess inventories of COVID-19 tests existed throughout the supply chain; (c) that, as a result of (a)-(b), QuidelOrtho's distributors and pharmacy chain customers were poised to significantly reduce their COVID-19 test orders; (d) that undisclosed problems created a heightened risk that the Savanna RVP4 Test would experience a delayed commercial launch in the United States; and (e) that, as a result of (a)-(d), Defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about QuidelOrtho's business, financials, and growth trajectory.
The filed complaint further alleges that the truth began to emerge on February 13, 2024, when QuidelOrtho reported underwhelming results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023. Among other things, the Company's Adjusted Earnings Per Share was 46% below the midpoint of Wall Street analysts' expectations. This miss was largely attributed to lower COVID-19 revenues during the quarter due to distributor destocking. QuidelOrtho also lowered its annual endemic COVID-19 revenue forecast from the range of $200-$400 million to $200 million.
On this news, the price of QuidelOrtho stock dropped $21.50, or more than 32 percent, to close at $45.27 on February 14, 2024.
Then, on April 2, 2024, QuidelOrtho announced that it had withdrawn its FDA 510(k) submission for approval to sell the Savanna RVP4 Test in the United States after recent data did not meet expectations.
On this news, the price of QuidelOrtho stock dropped $4.85, or more than 10 percent, to close at $42.15 on April 2, 2024.
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
