The Class Action alleges that, during the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects in violation of the Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose: (1) that the global semiconductor shortage had a materially negative impact on demand for Cerences software licenses; (2) that Defendants masked the impact of the semiconductor shortage on demand for the Companys software licenses by pulling forward sales; and (3) that, as a result of the above, Defendants statements about Cerences business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. The truth began to emerge during Cerences earnings call on November 22, 2021 for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021 ended on September 30, 2021, causing Cerences stock price to fall and investors to suffer substantial losses. On that call, Cerence announced revenue guidance for fiscal year 2022 that was well below analysts expectations. In response to this revelation, Cerences stock price fell more than 20 percent from a closing price of $104.06 the prior trading day, to a close of $82.59 on November 22, 2021. The Companys stock price continued to fall another 5% the following day to close at $78.27 on November 23, 2021. Then, approximately three weeks later, Cerences Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjay Dhawan abruptly resigned. On this news, Cerences stock price fell an additional 11% from a closing price of $78.08 on December 14, 2021 to a closing price of $69.20 on December 15, 2021. Finally, on February 7, 2022, the Company announced results for its fiscal first quarter of 2022 ended on December 31, 2021 and shocked the market with three disclosures. First, the Company announced that Chief Financial Officer Mark Gallenberger would be retiring, effective March 11, 2022. Next, during its earnings conference call, new CEO Stefan Ortmanns announced he had conducted a review of each of the Cerence business units plans, forecasts, and assumptions, and determined the conversion from bookings to revenue will take longer than expected. As a result, Cerence was forced to lower its fiscal year 2022 guidance, only a few months after providing disappointing guidance for the same period. Finally, Cerence completely withdrew the closely watched fiscal year 2024 guidance. On this news, Cerences stock price fell an additional 30%, from a closing price of $63.58 on the prior trading day of February 4, 2022, to close at $43.61 on February 7, 2022. If you purchased Cerence common stock during the Class Period and were damaged thereby, you are a member of the Class and may be able to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff, a motion on your behalf must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts no later than April 26, 2022. The lead plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as lead plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in the Class Action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member.
For More information as well as to join this case please contact Atara Twersky, Esq. at atara@twerskylawgroup.com or atwersky@aftlaw.com. Atara is Principal at Twersky Law Group and Of counsel at AF&T law firm where she is director of Investor Services. Atara focuses her practice on assisting her clients with increasing their investment portfolio recoveries and ensuring that their portfolios remain healthy and robust. For more information on shareholder recoveries click here and to listen to Atara’s podcast with notable guests in the Pension fund Industry listen to Pension and Investments Podcast, on all matters related to your investment portfolio and more. For more information on Atara and her legal work connected to shareholder protection click here.
