| CASE CAPTION |
Pontiac, City of General Employees Retirement System v. First Solar Incorporated, et al. |
| COURT |
United States District Court for the District of Arizona |
| CASE NUMBER |
2:22-cv-00036-MTL |
| JUDGE |
Honorable Michael T. Liburdi |
| PLAINTIFF |
Palm Harbor Special Fire Control & Rescue District Firefighters’ Pension Plan (“Palm Harbor”) and Greater Pennsylvania Carpenters’ Pension Fund (“Pennsylvania Carpenters”)
|
| DEFENDANTS |
First Solar, Inc. (“First Solar” or the “Company”), Mark Widmar, Alexander R. Bradley, and Georges Antoun |
| CLASS PERIOD |
February 22, 2019 through February 20, 2020, inclusive |
This securities fraud class action arises out of First Solar’s alleged misrepresentations and omissions concerning its Series 6 solar power modules and its Project Development division. In late 2017, First Solar announced that it was transitioning to the Series 6 solar module as its flagship product and phasing out the Company’s existing Series 4 module. In connection with this transition, Defendants touted the significantly higher output (measured in watts per module) and lower cost (measured in cost per watt) of the Series 6 compared to the Series 4. During the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly assured investors that the Series 6 was meeting the necessary milestones to achieve the targeted watts per module and cost per watt figures. Unbeknownst to the market, however, the Series 6 was plagued by manufacturing and performance defects that were negatively impacting both metrics. At the same time that they were concealing these issues with the Series 6, Defendants also failed to disclose that First Solar’s Project Development division had lost significant market share, that its project pipeline was rapidly dwindling, and that the Company was looking to divest this business. The truth concerning the state of affairs within the Company was eventually revealed to the public through disclosures on October 24, 2019, January 15, 2020 and February 20, 2020. Following these revelations, First Solar’s stock price fell precipitously.
On June 23, 2022, Palm Harbor and Pennsylvania Carpenters filed an Amended Complaint on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging that First Solar and certain of its current executives violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act by making false and misleading statements and concealing material facts about the manufacturing and performance issues with the Company’s Series 6 modules and its struggling Project Development division. On August 22, 2022, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the Court granted with leave to amend on January 11, 2023. Plaintiffs filed their Second Amended Complaint on February 10, 2023. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss on February 24, 2023, and Plaintiffs filed their opposition to this motion on March 10, 2023.
Read Amended Class Action Complaint Here