NEW YORK, March 12, 2023 (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 Allianz SE (OTCMKTS: ALIZY), Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ: TEAM), and PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI). 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.
Allianz SE (OTCMKTS: ALIZY)
Class Period: March 9, 2018 - May 17, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 3, 2023
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Allianz did not have effective internal controls; (2) Allianz's subsidiary was involved in substantial fraudulent activity; (3) as a result, Allianz was at an increased risk of regulatory scrutiny; (4) as a result, Allianz was at an increased risk of substantial losses and financial costs; and (5) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
For more information on the Allianz class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/ALIZY
Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ)
Class Period: November 4, 2021 - April 4, 2022 (including all former shareholders of Afterpay securities who acquired unregistered Block, Inc. Class A common stock (and/or corresponding SQ CHESS Depository Interests (“CDI”)) (“Block Shares” or “Square Securities”) in direct exchange for Afterpay shares pursuant to Block’s January 31, 2022 acquisition and stock-for-stock merger with Afterpay)
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 3, 2023
The filed complaint alleges that Block made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) defendants did not satisfy the mandatory conditions necessary to exempt them from registration under §3(a)(10) and permit the issuance and sale of unregistered Block Shares; (2) in violation of §§5(a) and (c) of the Securities Act, no registration statement has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or been in effect with respect to these Block Shares issued, solicited, and sold by means of Block's January 31, 2022 acquisition and stock-for-stock merger with Afterpay (the "Merger" or "Acquisition"); (3) in order to push the Acquisition through, defendants failed to comply with §3(a)(10)'s mandatory preconditions in several respects; and (4) defendants' grossly negligent failures deprived the Supreme Court of New South Wales ("NSW Court") of critical information necessary for any genuine appraisal of the Merger's supposed "fairness," and furthermore deprived plaintiff and other Afterpay shareholders of their statutory right to appear and present to the NSW Court the host of serious concerns and material (yet undisclosed) information ahead of the Merger.
For more information on the Block class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/SQ
Atlassian Corporation Plc (NASDAQ: TEAM)
Class Period: August 5, 2022 - November 3, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 4, 2023
Atlassian develops and sells collaboration and project-management software that operates both on premises and in the cloud. The Company derives a majority of its revenue from its Jira Software and Confluence software products. The Company generates revenue primarily from license subscriptions both from free users who convert to paying customers when they exceed the cap on free licenses, and from existing paying users who expand their existing subscriptions. In 2020, Atlassian began to transition its clients to the cloud, which has accounted for a rapidly growing portion of the Company’s revenues.
In the spring and summer of 2022, as macroeconomic conditions deteriorated and Atlassian’s competitors lowered their revenue guidance, Defendants remained steadfast that these conditions were not having a material impact on the Company. Indeed, after markets closed on August 4, 2022, Defendant Co-Chief Executive Officer Scott Farquhar reiterated the Company’s guidance of 50% year-on-year cloud growth for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. In a call with analysts that day, more than a month into the Company’s fiscal first quarter of 2023, Defendant and Chief Revenue Officer Cameron Deatsch assured investors the Company was “being exceedingly vigilant watching all stages of our funnel” and that “we have yet to see any specific trend . . . that gives us pause or worry to date.” According to CRO Deatsch, the “demand for collaboration products continue[s] to be strong.”
Undisclosed to investors, throughout the Class Period, Atlassian overstated its financial guidance by concealing trends of slowing conversions from free users to paying customers and slowing growth in paying-user expansion. As a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects during the Class Period were materially false and /or misleading.
Investors only learned the truth about the Company’s vulnerability to macroeconomic conditions and weakened outlook after the financial markets closed on November 3, 2022. That afternoon, Atlassian issued a letter to shareholders and held a conference call with analysts to discuss its financial results for the fiscal first quarter of 2023 ended September 30, 2022. In the letter to shareholders, filed as an Exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K, the Defendants revealed that “[b]ased on the macro headwinds,” the Company was “lowering our Cloud revenue growth outlook to a range of approximately 40% to 45% year-over-year” for fiscal year 2023. In describing the “macro impacts” on the Company, the letter to shareholders revealed that (1) the Company “saw a decrease in the rate of Free instances converting to paid plans,” calling it a “trend [that] became more pronounced” in the quarter and (2) the Company experienced “a slowing in the rate of paid user growth from existing customers.”
In response to these revelations, the price of Atlassian stock declined almost 29% the following trading day, from a closing price of $174.17 per share on November 3, 2022 to a closing price of $123.73 per share on November 4, 2022. More than $7 billion in shareholder value evaporated. Analysts reported being “surprised by the magnitude of the slowdown” as Defendants “delivered unusually disappointing” results.
As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in market value of the Company’s common stock when the truth was disclosed, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
For more information on the Atlassian class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/TEAM
PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI)
Class Period: January 1, 2019 - December 19, 2022
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 7, 2023
According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. PLDT suffered from capital spending budget overruns. The Company failed to properly manage weaknesses that resulted in budget overruns. Based on these facts, the Company’s public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about PLDT, investors suffered damages.
For more information on the PLDT class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/PHI
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
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.
Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
