Investor Burnt on Blue Apron IPO Initiates Securities Class Action
WASHINGTON, DC (August 18, 2017) — U.S. Market Advisors Law Group PLLC announces that a securities class action has been filed against Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (“Blue Apron” or the “Company”)(NYSE:APRN). The class action is on behalf of investors who acquired common stock of Blue Apron pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) on or about June 28, 2017.
Investors with losses have until October 16, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. The Lead Plaintiff is a representative for absent members of the class. Investors do not need to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff to share in any class recovery in this action. If you are a class member and there is a recovery for the class, you can share in that recovery as an absent class member. You may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in this action. Contact USMA Law Group to discuss this action.
Blue Apron was founded in 2012 and is an ingredient-and-recipe meal kit service. Blue Apron also sells wine, kitchen tools and staples that are used in their test kitchens where new recipes are created.
Allegations Against Blue Apron
The complaint alleges that the Registration Statement failed to disclose:
- that rather than continue to significantly increase spending on advertising, Blue Apron had already decided to significantly reduce spending on advertising in Q2 2017, which would hurt sales and profit margins in future quarters;
- that Blue Apron was already experiencing adverse on-time in-full rates, meaning orders were not arriving on time or with all the ingredients needed, which was hurting customer retention;
- that the Company had run into delays in Q2 2017 with its new factory in Linden, New Jersey, a factory which is expected to eventually account for more than half of the meal kits Blue Apron sells;
- that existing and already-materialized delays at the Company’s new factory in Linden. New Jersey were resulting in additional delays in new product rollouts, which was limiting the company’s ability to gain new customers and retain existing ones;
- that the delays being experienced by the Company would hurt the Company’s bottom line in the near-term, particularly affecting the important metric of lifetime value per customer, or the net profit Blue Apron makes off a customer;
- that the Company was not able to fully execute its new product initiatives; and
- that Blue Apron had already decided it would be forced to change its strategic approach in managing the business for the remainder of 2017.
On July 25, 2017, Blue Apron announced that Matthew Wadiak, one of the company’s co-founders, was stepping down from his role as Chief Operating Officer and would transition to serve as a senior advisor to the Company.
On August 10, 2017, Blue Apron announced its Q2 2017 results and lowered guidance for the second half of 2017.
In response to Blue Apron’s disclosures on August 10, 2017, the Company’s stock closed on August 10, 2017 at $5.14, almost half its IPO price of $10, marking the worst performance for a big IPO this year. The stock has fallen 28% in the last month, while the S&P 500 index has gained 0.5%.
About USMA Law Group
U.S. Market Advisors Law Group PLLC is a national law firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm represents investors worldwide in U.S. securities class action lawsuits.
Contact
David P. Abel
(202) 274-0237
[email protected]