NEW YORK, April 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A class action complaint has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased JDS Uniphase Corp ("JDS Uniphase" or the "Company") securities (Nasdaq:JDSU) from July 27, 1999 through July 26, 2001, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action further or have any questions concerning this announcement, or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Eric Belfi or Maurice Pesso, Rabin & Peckel LLP, 275 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, by telephone at (800) 497-8076 or (212) 682-1818, by facsimile at (212) 682-1892, or by e-mail at: email@rabinlaw.com.
The complaint charges JDS Uniphase Corp. and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. JDS Uniphase is a provider of fiber optic components and modules, which form the building blocks for fiber optic networks. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants were motivated to inflate the value of JDS Uniphase stock so that the Company could make acquisitions using stock and so the individual defendants, who are the top officers and directors of JDS Uniphase, could sell their shares. During the Class Period, defendants represented that demand was accelerating and the Company's only problem was its ability to manufacture enough product to meet demand. Defendants represented that they had outstanding visibility, including demand for the Company's products through the end of fiscal 2001, ended on 6/30/01, and that JDS Uniphase had 80 engineers whose job it was to monitor customers and their inventory levels and as a result, JDS Uniphase would learn about any slowdown in demand early. The Company also misrepresented the success of its largest acquisitions, including Optical Coating Labs, Cronos Integrated Microsystems, E-Tek Dynamics and SDL Inc. As a result of these positive statements, JDS Uniphase stock traded as high as $146.32.
The Individual Defendants (all of whom were top officers and directors of the Company) and the Company's controlling shareholder took advantage of the inflation, selling or disposing of 25.2 million shares of their JDS Uniphase stock for proceeds of $2.1 billion. Then, on 7/26/01, JDS Uniphase announced the restatement of its third quarter results for fiscal 2001, the write-off of $44 billion in goodwill associated with its acquisitions, inventory write-downs, that earnings per share for fiscal 2001 would be only $0.16, and that it would incur a loss of $0.15 per share in fiscal 2002. On this news, JDS Uniphase shares dropped to as low as $7.90 -- or more than 94% lower than the Class Period high of $146.32. The Complaint alleges that as a result of defendants' false and misleading statements the price of JDS Uniphase securities was artificially inflated throughout the Class Period, causing plaintiff and the other members of the Class to suffer damages.
Plaintiff is represented by the law firm of Rabin & Peckel LLP. Rabin & Peckel and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than thirty years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States. You can learn more information about Rabin & Peckel at www.rabinlaw.com.
If you purchased JDS Uniphase securities during the Class Period described above, you may, no later than May 26, 2002, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff. To serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. You can join this action as a lead plaintiff online at www.rabinlaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.