A shareholder in Align Technology has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California over alleged securities laws violations by the company in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements.
The plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Align Technology common stock between April 23, 2012, and October 17, 2012, that Align and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. During that time period, the defendants allegedly issued "materially false and misleading statements" regarding Align Technology's current financial condition and quarterly and year-end revenue and earnings outlook for fiscal 2012, according to the complaint.
On July 19, 2012, Align released its second quarter fiscal 2012 results, which included guidance for the third quarter of 2012. The company said at the time it expected third-quarter net revenues to be in a range of $136.8 million to $140.8 million.
According to the lawsuit, shares of Align grew to as high as $39.38 per share on October 5, 2012. Then, on October 17, 2012, Align announced its preliminary third-quarter 2012 results; among other things, the company said its third-quarter 2012 revenue would be $136.5 million. Starting that day, shares of Align dropped from as high as $38.166 per share to as low as $25.53 per share on October 18, 2012, and continued to decline to as low as $25.39 per share on November 15, 2012. On December 7, 2012, Align shares closed at $25.51 per share.
