SAN FRANCISCO, May 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman updates investors in the following publicly-traded companies and urges investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm. Further details about the cases, including the upcoming May 11, 2020 lead plaintiff application deadline, can be found at the links provided.
ALLK Investors Click Here.
CRON Investors Click Here.
FNKO Investors Click Here.
Allakos (ALLK) Securities Class Action:
Class Period: Aug. 5, 2019 - Dec. 17, 2019
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 11, 2020
Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/ALLK
Contact An Attorney Now: ALLK@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895
The complaint alleges Defendants misled investors about the Company’s Phase 2 clinical trial (the “ENIGMA Trial”) for its flagship AK002 drug intended to treat patients with certain stomach diseases. Specifically, Defendants misrepresented and concealed that: (1) the ENIGMA Trial was poorly designed and not well-controlled; (2) Allakos had cherry-picked timeframes to engineer results for the ENIGMA Trial; (3) Allakos used superficial endpoints in the ENIGMA Trial relative to FDA guidance; (4) Allakos inaccurately reported the number of adverse incidents that occurred during the ENIGMA Trial; and (5) the Company failed to report other key data from the ENIGMA Trial.
According to the complaint, investors began to learn the truth on Dec. 18, 2019, when Seligman Investments published a scathing report entitled, “A Suspect Biotech with a Phase 2 Farce, Incredulous Trial Investigators, and Warning Signs of Potential Fraud,” identifying several concerns with the ENIGMA Trial. Among other things, Seligman’s 215-page report concluded that the ENIGMA Trial results “are compromised by 1) glaring omissions, 2) cherry-picked measures, and 3) statistical gimmicks and obfuscation.” On this news, Allakos shares declined $13.25, or about 10%, on Dec. 18, 2019, wiping out over $1 billion in market capitalization.
Cronos Group Inc. (CRON) Securities Class Action:
Class Period: May 9, 2019 - Mar. 2, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 11, 2020
Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/CRON
Contact An Attorney Now: CRON@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895
The complaint alleges that, while touting Cronos’ revenue growth, Defendants concealed that Cronos engaged in significant transactions and improperly recognized revenue from them. According to the complaint, Cronos also misstated the value of its inventory in its financial statements.
The market began to learn the truth: (1) first on Feb. 24, 2020, when Cronos announced it would delay its Q4 and FY 2019 earnings release and conference call, previously scheduled for Feb. 27, 2020, (2) second on Mar. 2, 2020, when Cronos announced that its Audit Committee was reviewing the Company’s recognition of revenue from several bulk resin transactions made through its wholesale channel, (3) third on Mar. 17, 2020, when Cronos announced it will restate previously issued financial statements for Q1 – Q3 2019 to eliminate revenues recognized from certain wholesale transactions, (4) fourth, on Mar. 20, 2020, when MarketWatch reported that the SEC opened an inquiry into Cronos’ revenue recognition.
On Mar. 30, 2020, Defendants released restated financials for the first three quarters of 2019, admitting that Cronos massively overreported accounts receivable, gross revenues and gross profits before fair value adjustments. In addition, the Company reported a gross loss of nearly $20.4 million for Q4 2019, driven by inventory write-downs of $24 million, including a $22.1 million charge on the value of its cannabis plants.
Funko, Inc. (FNKO) Securities Class Action:
Expanded Class Period: Aug. 8, 2019 – Mar. 5, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 11, 2020
Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/FNKO
Contact An Attorney Now: FNKO@hbsslaw.com
844-916-0895
The complaint alleges that Defendants misrepresented and failed to disclose material facts regarding Funko’s business, operations and prospects. According to the complaint, while promoting the demand for Funko’s products and representing that it properly accounted for inventory, Defendants concealed that (1) Funko was experiencing lower than expected sales, and (2) as a result, Funko was reasonably likely to incur a writedown for slower moving inventory.
The market began to learn the truth on Feb. 5, 2020 when, after the market closed, Funko announced disappointing preliminary Q4 2019 results, including net sales of $214 million, an 8% year-over-year decrease. Management blamed these poor results in part on a $16.8 million charge to write down slow-moving inventory. On this news, Funko’s share price fell $6.20, or 40%.
Then, on Mar. 5, 2020, the Company issued a press release announcing its Q4 2019 and full year 2019 financial results. Therein, Funko affirmed that net sales for fourth quarter had decreased to $213.6 million due to, among other things, “softness at retail during the holiday season which led to a decrease in orders.” On this news, Funko’s share price fell another $0.32, or nearly 5%.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding ALLK, CRON, and/or FNKO should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email ALLK@hbsslaw.com, CRON@hbsslaw.com, and/or FNKO@hbsslaw.com.
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Contact:
Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895