Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors that purchased Aterian, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATER) securities between December 11, 2020 and May 3, 2021, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors have until July 12, 2021 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Click here to participate in the action.
On May 4, 2021, before the markets opened, analyst Culper Research issued a scathing report concerning Aterian. In its report, Culper wrote that “the Company has ties to convicted criminals and is promoting what we believe is an overhyped ‘AI’ narrative and a string of garbage acquisitions to mask the failure of its already ill-conceived core business.” Culper continued that “Aterian has been largely unsuccessful in convincing other Amazon sellers to pay for its ‘AIMEE’ AI platform, and at least 5 former employees and a former customer have expressed doubts regarding AIMEE’s legitimacy. We think that Aterian’s underlying business has failed, forcing the Company to obscure its poor performance with a series of questionable acquisitions.” Culper further wrote: “[w]e believe that there are serious problems with Aterian’s claims to maintain strong organic growth and to drive M&A synergies: to us, neither of these appears to be the case. . .. In our view, this suggests not only that Aterian is unable to grow EBITDA at acquired businesses, but that its core business is also failing to produce.”
On this news, the price of Aterian stock fell from its May 3, 2021 close of $20.66 to a May 5, 2021 close of $15.72 per share, a two-day drop of $3.04 per share or approximately 24%.
The complaint alleges that throughout the class period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Aterian’s organic growth is plummeting; (2) Aterian’s recent, self-lauded acquisitions were overpayments for flawed assets from questionable sources; (3) Aterian’s purported artificial intelligence software is a flawed product that lacks customer interest; (4) Aterian uses rebate programs and paid or artificial reviews to pump up their product offerings; and (5) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
If you purchased Aterian securities during the Class Period and suffered a loss, are a long term stockholder, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker, Melissa Fortunato, or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
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Contacts
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
