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Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against CVS, Walgreens, American Airlines, and Bolt and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm
Globe Newswire 2-Aug-2024 9:00 PM
NEW YORK, Aug. 02, 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 CVS Health Corporation (NYSE:CVS), Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA), American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL), and Bolt Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:BOLT). 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.
CVS is a healthcare company that operates through three primary segments: Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness. The Health Care Benefits segment purportedly offers "a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, [prescription drug plans] and Medicaid health care management services." The Health Care Benefits segment's revenues consist almost entirely of insurance premiums paid by customers.
The pricing and other terms of the Company's private health insurance plans are typically determined in advance of a plan's policy period, which is typically one year. CVS determines premiums for these plans based on internal forecasts that consider historical data and the profitability of which are dependent on the Company's ability to accurately model, among other things, medical cost trends and health care utilization patterns. Generally, a fixed premium rate is determined at the beginning of the policy period. To the extent that unmodeled-for increases in the costs of health care and other benefits arise during a given policy period, CVS is ultimately responsible for the payment of those costs. Accordingly, the profitability of the Health Care Benefits segment is particularly sensitive to the accuracy of its cost forecasts.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the forecasts CVS used to determine plan premiums were ineffective at accounting for medical cost trends and health care utilization patterns; (ii) as a result, CVS was likely to incur significant expenses to cover cost increases that were not accounted for in the Company's forecasts and thus not covered by plan premiums; (iii) accordingly, CVS had overstated the profitability of its Health Care Benefits segment; (iv) contrary to Defendants' assurances, the revenues generated from the Company's other primary segments were insufficient to offset the negative financial impact of the increasing expenditures within the Health Care Benefits segment; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On August 2, 2023, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company's results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, which revealed that the Company was revising its diluted earnings-per-share ("EPS") guidance range to $6.53 to $6.75 from $6.90 to $7.12. In a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") that same day, CVS stated that operating income, which has a direct impact on EPS, "decreased $1.4 billion, or 30.7%, in the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to the prior year primarily due to declines in the Health Care Benefits segment[.]"
On this news, CVS's stock price fell $2.04 per share, or 2.73%, to close at $72.32 per share on August 3, 2023.
Then, on November 1, 2023, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company's results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, which revealed that the Company was again reducing its diluted EPS guidance range to $6.37 to $6.61 from $6.53 to $6.75. In a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that same day, CVS stated that while operating income increased "in the nine months ended September 30, 2023 compared to the prior year [. . .] [t]hese increases in operating income were partially offset by declines in the Health Care Benefits segment."
Then, on February 7, 2024, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company's results for the year ended December 31, 2023 which revealed that the Company was revising its diluted EPS guidance range to at least $7.06 from at least $7.26, its adjusted EPS guidance range to at least $8.30 from at least $8.50, and its cash flow from operations guidance to at least $12.0 billion from at least $12.5 billion. In an Annual Report filed on Form 10-K with the SEC that same day reporting the Company's financial and operational results for the year ended December 31, 2023, CVS stated that, while operating income increased in 2023 compared to 2022, "[t]hese increases in operating income were partially offset by declines in the Health Care Benefits segment." Moreover, in a conference call held with investors and analysts that same day to discuss the Company's 2023 results, CVS's Chief Financial Officer Defendant Thomas F. Cowhey stated, in relevant part, "we now expect adjusted operating income for the Healthcare Benefit segment to be at least $5.4 billion, a decrease of $370 million from our prior estimates."
On this news, CVS's stock price fell $0.96 per share, or 1.27%, to close at $74.36 per share on February 8, 2024.
Finally, on May 1, 2024, CVS issued a press release reporting its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and revising its full-year 2024 guidance. Among other items, CVS reported $88.4 billion in revenue, missing expectations of $89 billion. The Company stated that higher utilization of healthcare services, meaning more insurance dollars spent, weighed on its results in addition to Medicare reimbursement rate cuts that will continue to pressure CVS for the remainder of the year. Accordingly, CVS issued revised full-year 2024 guidance, including "[r]evised GAAP diluted EPS guidance to at least $5.64 from at least $7.06"; "[r]evised Adjusted EPS guidance to at least $7.00 from at least $8.30"; and "[r]evised cash flow from operations guidance to at least $10.5 billion from at least $12.0 billion". Further, in a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that same day, CVS stated that operating income decreased $1.2 billion, or 34.1% "in in the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to increased Medicare utilization, the unfavorable impact of the previously disclosed decline in the Company's 2024 Medicare Advantage star ratings and a year-over-year unfavorable impact from development of prior-years' health care cost estimates in the Health Care Benefits segment."
On this news, CVS's stock price fell $11.40 per share, or 16.84%, to close at $56.31 per share on May 1, 2024.
The complaint alleges that on June 27, 2024, Walgreens announced 3Q24 financial results and reduced its revenue guidance for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2024. The Company attributed its results and lowered guidance on the "significant challenges in the U.S. Retail Pharmacy business stemming from a worse-than-expected consumer environment and challenging pharmacy industry trends."
Following this news, Walgreens stock began trading more than 20% lower than the previous day's closing price of $15.65 per share.
On May 28, 2024, after the market closed, American Airlines announced that its Chief Commercial Officer was departing. Additionally, the Company disclosed that it was lowering its guidance. In an industry conference the following day, May 29, 2024, the Company's CEO stated that the Company's "expectation for domestic performance has worsened materially since [it] provided guidance in April," and that the revision "is largely due to a softer domestic environment than [the Company was] expecting and [its] performance within that environment."
On this news, American Airlines' stock price fell $1.82, or 13.5%, to close at $11.62 per share on May 29, 2024, thereby injuring investors.
The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the Company's reports of growth relied far too heavily on inflated demand assumptions allegedly stemming from the implemented changes to their sale and distribution strategy which had downsized the Company's sales and distribution channels to redirect consumers solely to their online platform; and (2) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
According to the complaint, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) BDC-1001 was less effective than the Company had represented to investors and was in fact unlikely to meet its pre-defined success criteria; (ii) accordingly, Defendants overstated the clinical and/or commercial prospects of Bolt's product pipeline, on which the Company primarily relies to sustain its business model; (iii) all of the foregoing subjected the Company to a heightened risk of disruptive leadership transitions and substantial workforce reduction; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
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.
