SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a national investor-rights law firm, reminds investors with losses exceeding $700,000.00 of the upcoming lead plaintiff deadline in the class action lawsuit filed against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) ("Alibaba" or "the Company"). The suit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and investors with significant losses have until March 31, 2015 to move for lead plaintiff. You do not need to move to be a lead plaintiff to be a member of the Class.
The complaint has been filed on behalf of all investors who purchased Alibaba securities between October 21, 2014 and January 28, 2015 (the "Class Period"). If you purchased BABA securities during the Class Period and have losses greater than $700,000.00, you may contact Hagens Berman Partner Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm's investigation, by calling (510) 725-3000, emailing BABA@hbsslaw.com or visiting http://hb-securities.com/investigations/BABA. No Class has been certified in this case, and if your losses are less than $700,000.00, you are still a member of the Class.
The complaint alleges that Defendants misled investors regarding the soundness of Alibaba's business operations and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose to investors that it was meeting with China's State Administration of Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") in July 2014, just two months before Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in the United States. During those meetings, officials advised Alibaba that they were beginning a process of clamping down on certain dubious and potentially illegal practices that were central to the core of the Company's business.
On January 28, 2015, before the opening of trading, various members of the financial media reported that the SAIC, China's main corporate regulator, had released a white paper accusing Alibaba of engaging in the very illegal conduct disclosed to Alibaba executives in July 2014. On this news, the price of Alibaba ADSs dropped 4%, or $4.49 per ADS, closing at $102.94 per ADS on January 28th, on unusually high volume of approximately 42 million shares trading.
The stock plummeted further when the Company announced financial results for the fourth quarter 2014 on January 29, 2015. The Company reported revenues of just $4.22 billion for the 4Q 2014, significantly under-achieving the $4.45 billion target defendants had led the investment community to expect based on Alibaba's bullish statements throughout the Class Period concerning its ongoing purported strong revenue growth. The Company also disclosed that its profits had fallen to $964 million, or 37 cents per share, a 28% decline from the financial results for the fourth quarter 2013. As a result of these disclosures, the price of Alibaba ADSs dropped another $8.64 per ADS to close at $89.91 per ADS, a decline of approximately 9%.
"Investigations by Government officials should have been disclosed prior to the IPO," said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein. "This information is critical to an investor's decision about the long-term prospects of a company, and investors were hit when the truth was revealed."
If you suffered a significant loss from your investment in BABA securities purchased between October 21, 2014 and January 28, 2015, and would like to learn more about this lawsuit and your ability to participate as a lead plaintiff, please contact us for your no-cost evaluation. No class has yet been certified in the above action.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Alibaba should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at (510) 725-3000 or email BABA@hbsslaw.com.
About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is an investor-rights class-action law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington with offices in nine cities. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Read the firm's Securities Newsletter at http://www.hb-securities.com/newsletter. The firm's blog is located at www.meaningfuldisclosure.com.
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CONTACT: Reed Kathrein, (510) 725-3000
