The makers of the Blackberry mobile device, as well as some key executives, are named as defendants in a class action lawsuit which was filed in Manhattan on October 4, 2013.
The company formerly known as Research in Motion (RIM) and based in Waterloo, Ontario, along with its CEO and financial officer are alleged to have misled investors with respect to the outlook of the company’s future and the failure of the latest Blackberry products, the Q10 and Z10, to compete against other mobile devices. The class action says that investors were mislead about the company’s recovery and ability to reassert itself at the forefront of the mobile communications business. The Blackberry 10 devices failed to capture a larger portion of the consumer market than what was expected.
The lawsuit is on behalf of shareholders who purchased stock in the company between September 27, 2012 to September 2013. This class period represents the time period during which the company and officers are alleged to have made the misrepresentations. Press Releases and conference calls served to deceive the investing public the lawsuits alleges. This deception is what contributed to the significant loss that affected shareholders when the stock value rapidly declined by as much as 25%.
Blackberry has seen a marked decline in their business fortunes in the last few months. Along with the announcement that it would assume a loss of one billion dollars as a result of unsold Blackberry Z10 devices, they are also laying off about 40% of its staff in what may be a last ditch effort to keep the company alive. They hope the staff reduction will reduce costs and allow the company to recover.
The class action filed in the United States represents 1000s of American shareholders of Blackberry stock. Wagners is monitoring this situation and closely and are investigating the potential of a class action on behalf of Canadian shareholders. If you purchased stock during the time frame noted above, you may wish to contact Wagners and speak to one of its class action lawyers.