BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Nov. 8, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP announced today that it recently filed lawsuits on behalf of shareholders of Providian Financial Corporation, Apple Computer Inc., IXL Enterprises, Inc. and AskJeeves, Inc. for violations of the federal securities laws.
If you purchased the securities of any of the companies listed below during the respective class periods, you may be a member of the class and have until the date specified to move the court to become the lead plaintiff. For more information on a particular lawsuit and to view the complaint, you may visit our Website at www.sbclasslaw.com. To learn more about your rights and interests in these cases and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway directly at (888) 299-7706 (toll free) or (610) 822-2221, fax number (610) 822-0002 or by e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
PROVIDIAN FINANCIAL CORPORATION (NYSE:PVN) (Class Period: 06/06/01 - 10/18/01). The complaint charges Providian and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants disseminated false and misleading statements concerning the Company's operations and prospects for Q2 and Q3 2001. In late June 2001, Providian changed the way it processes its bankruptcy filings and thus changed when it recognizes losses and deferred the recognition of approximately $30 million of charge-offs from June (and Q2 01) into July. Providian allegedly manipulated its financial statements for Q2 01 and shaved 40 basis points off its Q2 01 managed net charge-off rate of 10.3% and boosted reported EPS by $0.06. Without this change, the loss rate would have been 10.7%. This is well above defendants' guidance of 9.5%-10%. Defendants made no mention of this change on the conference call or in Providian's Q2 01 10-Q. In fact, management only admitted this change after they came under pressure from analysts following a flood of calls to their investor relations department in late August 2001. During the Class Period, taking advantage of the inflation in Providian stock, defendants Alvarez, Mehta and Rowe sold almost $22 million worth of their own Providian stock at artificially inflated prices of as much as $49.30 per share. These sales were out of line with their prior trading history. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than December 18, 2001.
APPLE COMPUTER, INC. (Nasdaq:AAPL) (Class Period: 07/19/00 - 09/28/00). The complaint charges Apple Computer, Inc. and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the complaint alleges that on 7/18-19/00, Apple introduced its new Power Mac G4 Dual Processor, G4 Cube and iMac personal computers, representing that they were exceptionally powerful, fast and attractive, coming with exceptionally attractive designs and containing new and revolutionary features. At this time, Apple represented that the development of these new products was completed, they were ready for mass production and would be available in quantity very shortly. Apple claimed this would result in Apple achieving strong revenue and earnings per share ("EPS") growth in its 4thQ F00 (to end 9/30/00) and F01. As a result, Apple's stock climbed to a Class Period high of $64-1/8 in early 9/00, when four top Apple officers sold 370,000 shares of their Apple stock for $22 million. Suddenly, just 20-25 trading days later, on 9/28/00, Apple shocked investors by revealing a huge 4thQ F00 revenue and EPS shortfall due to very poor sales to its education (K-12) market and poor consumer acceptance of its new personal computer products (some of which had been late to market, had defects and lacked features which were essential for market success), resulting in the accumulation of excessive inventories of finished goods in Apple's distribution channel and Apple having to cancel component part orders and, thereby, incur financial penalties. As rumors of Apple's troubles circulated prior to and then following Apple's shocking disclosure, Apple's stock collapsed from $61-3/64 on 9/20/00 to $25-3/8 on 9/29/00, continuing to fall to as low as $17 and then to $13-5/8, as investors absorbed the full impact of these shocking revelations, a stock decline that wiped out over $10 billion of Apple's market capitalization in just a few days. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than December 15, 2001.
IXL ENTERPRISES, INC. (Nasdaq:IIXL) (Class Period: 06/02/99 - 12/06/00). The complaint alleges violations of Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. On or about June 2, 1999, IXL commenced an initial public offering of 4,800,000 of its shares of common stock at an offering price of $12 per share (the "IXL IPO"). In connection therewith, IXL filed a registration statement, which incorporated a prospectus (the "Prospectus"), with the SEC. The complaint further alleges that the Prospectus was materially false and misleading because it failed to disclose, among other things, that: (i) Merril Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incoproated; FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc.; Bear Stearns & Co, Inc.; and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated had solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors in exchange for which Merril Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incoproated; FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc.; Bear Stearns & Co, Inc.; and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated allocated to those investors material portions of the restricted number of IXL shares issued in connection with the IXL IPO; and (ii) Merril Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incoproated; FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc.; Bear Stearns & Co, Inc.; and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated had entered into agreements with customers whereby Merril Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incoproated; FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc.; Bear Stearns & Co, Inc.; and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated agreed to allocate IXL shares to those customers in the IXL IPO in exchange for which the customers agreed to purchase additional IXL shares in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than December 25, 2001.
ASK JEEVES, INC. (Nasdaq:ASKJ) (Class Period: 06/30/99 - 12/06/00). The complaint alleges violations of Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. On or about June 30, 1999, Ask Jeeves commenced an initial public offering of 3,000,000 of its shares of common stock at an offering price of $14 per share (the "Ask Jeeves IPO"). In connection therewith, Ask Jeeves filed a registration statement, which incorporated a prospectus (the "Prospectus"), with the SEC. The complaint further alleges that the Prospectus was materially false and misleading because it failed to disclose, among other things, that: (i) Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc. had solicited and received excessive and undisclosed commissions from certain investors in exchange for which Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated; and FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc. allocated to those investors material portions of the restricted number of Ask Jeeves shares issued in connection with the Ask Jeeves IPO; and (ii) Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and FleetBoston Robertson Stephens, Inc. had entered into agreements with customers whereby the Underwriter Defendants agreed to allocate Ask Jeeves shares to those customers in the Ask Jeeves IPO in exchange for which the customers agreed to purchase additional Ask Jeeves shares in the aftermarket at pre-determined prices. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than December 25, 2001.
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder in any of the companies listed above and would like to be a lead plaintiff in one of these securities class actions, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway at (888) 299-7706.
More information on these and other class actions can be found at www.primezone.com/ca.