BALA CYNWYD, Pa., April 4, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Cerner Corporation ("Cerner" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:CERN) from January 23, 2003 through April 2, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between January 23, 2003 and April 2, 2003, thereby artificially inflating the price of Cerner common stock. The Complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (a) that the Company was experiencing an increased level of competition as competitors slashed prices in order to take business from the Company. As a result, the Company was losing a material amount of sales to competitors; (b) that certain of the Company's clients were delaying or deferring the purchase of products from the Company or determining not to proceed with those purchases at all; (c) that the Company had reorganized its sales force and that the reorganization was negatively impacting the ability of the Company to close certain sales; and (d) as a result of the foregoing, defendants' earnings projections were lacking in a reasonable basis at all times and were materially false and misleading.
On April 3, 2003, Cerner shocked the market by announcing that "it expects its first quarter 2003 revenue and earnings to be below expectations because of a lower level of new business bookings in the quarter." The press release further revealed that the Company expected bookings for the first quarter of 2003 to be between $145 and $150 million and that earnings would be between $0.13 to $0.15 per share as compared to analysts earnings estimates of $0.38 per share. In response to this announcement, the price of Cerner common stock declined precipitously falling from $32.09 per share to as low as $18.35 per share on extremely heavy trading volume
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than June 2, 2003, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca