According to the complaint, the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. In particular, the complaint alleges the Company made overly optimistic projections for 2017 and 2018 regarding its U.S. education business when, in reality, students were not likely to purchase the Company’s products when more affordable alternatives were available.
On January 18, 2017, Pearson issued a press release announcing that it no longer expected to achieve its operative profit guidance for 2018 as a result of “[t]he North American higher education courseware market being much weaker than expected” and that Pearson would “rebase” its dividend “from 2017 onwards.” Following this news, shares of Pearson fell approximately 29% on January 18, 2017, from a previous close of $9.99 to a close of $7.13 per share.
Shareholders have until April 25, 2017 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery does not require that you serve as lead plaintiff. You may choose to be an absent class member.