NEW YORK, April 02, 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 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL), United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI), Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP), and DISH Network Corporation (NYSE: DISH). 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.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL)
Class Period: February 4, 2020 and January 23, 2023
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 15, 2023
Alphabet is a multinational technology conglomerate holding company. It was created through a restructuring of Google Inc. in October 2015, at which point Alphabet became the parent company of Google and several former Google subsidiaries. Alphabet is headquartered in Mountain View, California and incorporated in Delaware. The Company’s Class A and Class C shares trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbols “GOOGL” and “GOOG,” respectively.
Alphabet’s subsidiary Google is a dominant player in the field of digital advertising, to the extent that it controls the digital tools that every major website publisher uses to sell advertising space on their websites.
In recent years, Google’s dominance in this industry has drawn regulatory scrutiny. In July 2018, the European Commission (“EC”) fined Google €2.42 billion for promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of its search results. Less than a year later, in March 2019, the EC fined Google €1.49 billion for preventing rivals from being able to “compete and innovate fairly” in the online advertising market. In June 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reported that it would investigate Google for antitrust violations. Then, in October 2020, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that it had abused a monopoly position in the search and search advertising markets.
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) Alphabet used its dominance in the field of digital advertising to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who used competing advertising products; (ii) the foregoing conduct was anticompetitive in nature and likely to draw significant regulatory scrutiny; (iii) Alphabet’s revenues were unsustainable to the extent that they were the product of said anticompetitive conduct; (iv) Alphabet’s conduct, once revealed, would negatively impact the Company’s reputation and expose it to a heightened risk of litigation and regulatory enforcement action; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On January 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice and eight states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet’s Google subsidiary, accusing Google of illegally abusing its dominance in digital advertising and violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that “Google abuses its monopoly power to disadvantage website publishers and advertisers who dare to use competing ad tech products in a search for higher quality, or lower cost, matches.”
On this news, Alphabet’s Class A shares fell $2.09 per share, or 2.09%, to close at $97.70 per share, while its Class C shares fell $2.00 per share, or 1.98%, to close at $99.21 per share, on January 24, 2023
As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
For more information on the Alphabet class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/GOOG
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI)
Class Period: March 10, 2021 and March 7, 2023
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 19, 2023
United Natural Foods is a distributor of natural, organic, specialty, produce and conventional grocery and non-food products. The Company has two reportable segments: Wholesale, which includes grocery, fresh, wellness, private brands, eCommerce, and food service; and Retail, which includes 73 retail grocery stores that offer groceries, general merchandise, home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy. The Wholesale segment accounts for more than 95% of United Natural Foods’ net sales.
On March 8, 2023, before the market opened, United Natural Foods announced its second quarter 2023 financial results, revealing a $6 million decline in gross profit, despite a 6% increase in net sales. The Company stated that its profits “were challenged as we did not repeat the significant level of procurement gains from rapidly accelerating inflation and inventory gains, due to supply chain volatility, that we experienced in the second quarter of last year.”
On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $11.49, or 28.1%, to close at $29.47 per share on March 8, 2023, thereby injuring investors.
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: (1) that, despite its cost saving Value Path initiative, United Natural Foods had not invested in improving its data management and related infrastructure; (2) that, as a result, the Company could not respond adequately to cost changes, such as inflationary pressure; (3) that, as a result, the Company could not appreciate the benefits of procurement gains and inventory gains achieved during fiscal 2022; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company’s profitability would be materially adversely impacted; and (5) and that as a result of the foregoing, Defendant’s positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
For more information on the United Natural Foods class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/UNFI
Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE: TUP)
Class Period: March 10, 2021 - March 16, 2023
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 19, 2023
According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) Tupperware did not disclose its serious issues with internal controls; (2) Tupperware’s financial statements, from its 2020 Annual Report to the present, included misstatements, particularly as it related to the Company’s accounting for income taxes; (3) as a result, Tupperware would need to restate its previously filed financial statements for certain 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. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
For more information on the Tupperware class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/TUP
DISH Network Corporation (NYSE: DISH)
Class Period: February 22, 2021 - February 27, 2023
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 22, 2023
Dish, together with its subsidiaries, provides pay-TV services in the United States. The Company operates in two segments, Pay-TV and Wireless. Dish offers video services under the DISH TV brand; and programming packages that include programming through national broadcast networks, local broadcast networks, and national and regional cable networks, as well as regional and specialty sports channels, premium movie channels, and Latino and international programming packages.
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) the Company overstated its operational efficiency and maintained a deficient cybersecurity and information technology infrastructure; (ii) as a result of the foregoing, the Company was unable to properly secure customer data, leaving it vulnerable to access by malicious third parties; (iii) the foregoing cybersecurity deficiencies also both rendered Dish’s operations susceptible to widespread service outages and hindered the Company’s ability to respond to such outages; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On February 24, 2023, the Company announced that a “network outage” caused the Company’s websites and apps to cease functioning, subjected customers to authentication issues when signing into TV channel apps using their Dish credentials, and appeared to render the Company’s call center phone numbers unreachable.
Then, on February 28, 2023, Dish confirmed that it had “determined that the outage was due to a cyber-security incident and notified appropriate law enforcement authorities,” adding that the “threat agent” behind the ransomware attack stole date from Dish’s compromised systems, potentially containing personal information.
On this news, Dish’s stock price fell $0.79 per share, or 6.48%, to close at $11.41 per share on February 28, 2023.
As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.
For more information on the Dish class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/DISH
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.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
