BALA CYNWYD, Pa., July 16, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP announced today that it recently filed lawsuits against ATI Technologies, Inc., Loral Space & Communications, Ltd., Network Commerce, Inc. and InterVoice Brite, 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) 667-7706, fax number 610-667-7056 or by e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
ATI TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (Nasdaq:ATYT) (Class Period: 01/13/00 - 05/24/00). The complaint charges ATI and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants repeatedly issued press releases highlighting the Company's strong revenue growth and industry-high gross margins. These statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that (i) the Company was experiencing declining demand for its graphics chipset products and was decreasing its prices in order to stimulate demand; (ii) two of the Company's primary competitors, S3 Inc. and Neomagic were flooding the market with cheaper and better products, which was rendering ATI's product offerings increasingly unattractive; (iii) the Company was failing to writedown a material portion of its inventory, which was impaired given the current conditions in the graphics chipset market. Furthermore, the Company's reported operating results were materially overstated; and (iv) that defendants' opinions, estimates and projections concerning the Company, its business and earnings were knowingly lacking in a reasonable basis at all times. On May 24, 2000, defendants issued a press release, which shocked investors by announcing that ATI would be reporting lower than expected revenues. Defendants also disclosed that ATI's gross margins had declined to 21% and that the Company would be writing down $56 million worth of inventory. As a result of this announcement, the price of ATI common stock declined precipitously -- falling from $16.75 per share, on May 23, 2000, to $8.4375 per share on May 25, 2000. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than July 23, 2001.
LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, LTD. (NYSE:LOR) (Class Period: 11/04/99 - 02/01/01). The complaint charges Loral and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning the Company's financial condition and prospects. The complaint alleges that Loral misrepresented that Globalstar, which was controlled by Loral, was on schedule to roll out its satellite phone network and that demand for the system was strong. However, demand for the Globalstar system was much less than predicted, due in part to the fact that Globalstar did not offer roaming service, rendering it uncompetitive in developed nations. Defendants' false statements artificially inflated the price of Loral's stock. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than July 23, 2001.
NETWORK COMMERCE, INC. (Nasdaq:NWKC) (Class Period: 09/29/99 - 04/16/01). The complaint charges Network Commerce and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. On September 29, 1999, Network Commerce completed an Initial Public Offering of 8,337,500 shares of its stock raising net proceeds of $91 million, pursuant to a Prospectus and Registration Statement dated September 28, 1999. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the Registration Statement/Prospectus was false and misleading, failing to adequately describe transactions between the Company and its CEO.
Furthermore, on February 16, 2000, Network Commerce completed a Secondary Stock Offering ("Secondary Offering") of 7,913,600 shares by the Company for net proceeds of $107 million. The Secondary Offering was accomplished pursuant to a Prospectus/Registration Statement dated February 15, 2000, which was false as it failed to adequately describe the Company's transactions with the CEO.
During the Class Period, Network Commerce's stock traded at artificially inflated levels as defendants represented that the company's finances were solid and that it would achieve profitability in 2001. Then, on April 17, 2001, Network Commerce filed its 2000 Form 10-K which disclosed that: (a) If additional financing was not secured, it faced possible bankruptcy; (b) Its auditors had issued a going concern opinion; (c) The Company was in default on the convertible notes it had issued; and (d) The Company had settled with its CEO wherein it purchased 262,000 shares from the CEO in exchange for a $3.8 million note from the CEO. Network Commerce stock now trades at less than $0.20 per share, compared to the Class Period high of $25-15/16. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than July 24, 2001.
INTERVOICE BRITE, INC. (Nasdaq:INTV) (Class Period: 12/12/99 - 06/06/00). The complaint charges InterVoice and certain of its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading statements concerning its business and financial condition. The Company was created through the acquisition of Brite Voice Systems, Inc. ("Brite") for $164.4 million in cash and stock in the 2ndQ F00. Specifically, the complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made materially false statements about InterVoice's business, its financial results, the success of its integration with Brite and its prospects. As a result, InterVoice's stock was inflated to as high as $38.75 per share. The Individual Defendants took advantage of this inflation, selling 525,916 shares of their InterVoice stock for $13.4 million in proceeds.
On 6/6/00, InterVoice shocked the market, revealing that it would report a loss of $0.03 to $0.05 and revenues of only $67-$68 million for the 1st Q F01 rather than the EPS of $0.22 and revenues of $89 million defendants had led the market to expect. Defendants blamed the shortfall on sales people who had begun leaving the Company in the months prior to this disclosure, some of which were unhappy with the integrated Company. Defendants also claimed they had implemented new guidance from the SEC, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements ("SAB 101") earlier than planned. These revelations caused InterVoice stock to plummet to as low as $5.75 per share before closing at $6.125, a decline of 85% from its Class Period high on volume of 15.5 million shares. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The lead plaintiff motion must be filed no later than August 4, 2001.
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for more than 14 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 this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.