Johnson Fistel, LLP Files Class Action Suit against Vitamin Shoppe, Inc.; Lead Plaintiff Deadline is October 27, 2017
SAN DIEGO—(PRNewswire)—October 7, 2017
Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP announced a class action has commenced in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of all purchasers of Vitamin Shoppe, Inc. (NYSE: VSI) (“Vitamin Shoppe” or “Company”) common stock during the period between March 1, 2017 and August 8, 2017, inclusive (the “Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than October 27, 2017. If you wish to discuss this action, have any questions concerning this notice, or your rights or interests, please contact Jim Baker (jimb@johnsonfistel.com) at 619-814-4471. If you email, please include your phone number.
If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.johnsonfistel.com. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Vitamin Shoppe and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Vitamin Shoppe, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer and direct marketer of nutritional products in the United States.
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s true financial condition, business and prospects. Specifically the complaint alleges that defendants failed to disclose that the Company’s retail segment was continuing to dramatically decline, as its ongoing “reinvention plan” was not meeting with success; ongoing changes to the Company’s operating plan brought about through the “reinvention plan” had already rendered the more than $168 million in goodwill being carried on Vitamin Shoppe’s books for the retail segment impaired and Vitamin Shoppe was improperly delaying recognizing that impairment charge; and as a result of the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about Vitamin Shoppe’s financial prospects, including the viability of its return to profitability during fiscal 2017, and the success of its reinvention plan.
On May 10, 2017, Vitamin Shoppe released first quarter 2017 financial results that were lower than the market had been led to expect and slashed its fiscal 2017 guidance by 45%, yet claimed the “reinvention plan” was still succeeding. On this news, the price of Vitamin Shoppe stock declined by one-third to close at $12.70 per share.
Then, on August 9, 2017, Vitamin Shoppe announced that it was taking a $168.1 million impairment charge on the goodwill being carried on its books associated with its retail segment, and that, as a result, Vitamin Shoppe would report a loss per share of $6.73. In addition, citing “the potential increase in variability of the Company’s results due to the number of initiatives being launched in the back half of the year,” Vitamin Shoppe dropped its fiscal 2017 earnings per share guidance altogether. On that day, Vitamin Shoppe’s common stock plunged again, falling $3.50 per share to close at $6.10 per share.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Vitamin Shoppe’s common stock during the Class Period.
About Johnson Fistel, LLP:
Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonfistel.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Contact:
Johnson Fistel, LLP
Jim Baker, 619-814-4471
jimb@johnsonfistel.com