Plaintiff Who Filed First and thus far ONLY lawsuit against Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Issues Notice about Pending Lawsuit for Investors who Purchased BBBY and Advises them of Lead Plaintiff Deadline
Washington DC, September 6, 2022
The Notice: This notice is published pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(1)-(3)(B)(i).
The Class: Plaintiff Pengcheng Si advises investors that he filed the first and thus far the ONLY class action lawsuit against Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (“Bed Bath & Beyond” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BBBY), RC Ventures LLC, JP Morgan Securities LLC, Ryan Cohen, and Gustavo Arnal in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (1:22-cv-02541) on August 23, 2022 on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired BBBY common stock between March 25, 2022 and August 18, 2022, for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors have until November 7, 2022 to move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
What is this Case About: Bed Bath & Beyond Corporation (BBBY) Insiders have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices to enable an aggressive pump & dump scheme.
In March 2022, through his investment firm RC Ventures LLC, Ryan Cohen, who also serves as chairman of GameStop Corp., bought a nearly 10% stake in BBBY.
On March 25, 2022, Bed Bath & Beyond added three new directors appointed by Ryan Cohen’s investment firm, RC Ventures LLC.
Shares of BBBY rose from $4.38 per share on July 1, 2022, to $30.00 per share on August 17, 2022.
On August 15, 2022, Ryan Cohen, through his investment firm RC Ventures LLC, announced in an SEC filing purchases of over one million January 2023 call options with exercise prices at $60, $75, and $80-significantly higher than BBBY shares were trading.
On August 16, in another SEC filing Cohen indicated that he beneficially owned 9,450,100 shares – approximately 11.8% of the shares outstanding – of BBBY. On this news, BBBY stock closed 29% higher on August 16, 2022 compared to its close on August 15, 2022, on extremely heavy trading volume.
However, the Schedule 13D filing was materially false and constitutes a false written filing because Cohen sold most of the 9,450,100 shares when the filing was submitted and intended to create a buying frenzy of BBBY stocks so he could finish selling his shares at an artificially inflated price.
Cohen also filed Form 144 on paper providing notice of his intent to sell up to all his shares and additional call options. This filing was not disclosed to the public until the market closed the next day, August 17, 2022, at 5:07 pm, when Cohen finished dumping his BBBY shares. Right after the disclosure of the filing, BBBY shares tumbled after hours from a record high $30.00 per share to around $22.5 per share.
Also on August 18, 2022, Bloomberg published an article entitled “Bed Bath & Beyond Taps Kirkland & Ellis for Help Addressing Debt Load” which revealed the Company hired a law firm for help with its debt.
On August 19, 2022, BBBY stock plunged to a new low of $9.68, dropping another 52.6% from the previous day. BBBY’s stock price continued to decline over the next two trading days, falling an additional 16.23% to close at $9.24 per share on August 22, 2022, and falling another 4.98% to close at $8.78 on August 23, 2022, dropping over 70% from August 17’s high price of $30 per share in five trading days after Insiders dumped their shares. The BBBY Company lost more than $800 million in market capitalization while insiders profited at least $110 million from their sales from August 16 to August 17, 2022.
The plaintiff alleges that as a result of materially false statements regarding the financial condition and holding situation of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. between March 25, 2022 and August 18, 2022, the stock price of BBBY was artificially inflated and that the Defendants, knowing that the information they disclosed was false, took advantage of the inflated stock price and used fraudulent and misleading SEC filings to sell all their BBBY shares and options at artificially inflated prices to unsuspecting and innocent public investors and then retained control of the profits.
What To Do Next: If you purchased or sold Bed Bath & Beyond securities between March 25, 2022 and August 18, 2022 and want to join the class action, call Steven J. Toll, Esq. at 202.408.4600 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTACT THE FIRM < https://www.cohenmilstein.com/contact>
There is no cost or obligation to you. All representation is on a contingency fee basis.
About Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC: A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Palm Beach Gardens, and Washington DC. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.
Contacts
Steven J. Toll, Esq.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC Pengcheng Si, Esq.
202.408.4600 202.505.4768