NEW YORK–LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/panerabread/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on behalf of purchasers of Panera Bread Co. (“Panera Bread”) (NASDAQ:PNRA) common stock during the period between November 1, 2005 and July 26, 2006 (the “Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/panerabread/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Panera Bread and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Panera Bread engages in the ownership and franchising of bakery-cafes in the United States under the Panera Bread® and Saint Louis Bread Co.® names.
According to the complaint, throughout the Class Period, the Company highlighted its increasing system-wide sales and, as a result, continuously increased its earnings guidance. Moreover, the Company was rapidly opening new locations throughout the United States. Unbeknownst to shareholders, the Company’s aggressive growth strategy was causing the Company to experience declining sales at its existing stores.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose: (i) that the Company was experiencing negative trends in its business which were causing it to experience rising expenses and slow growth; (ii) that the Company’s store expansion strategy was causing the Company to yield a lower return on capital and experience a decline in sales per restaurant as the Company’s new store openings began to cannibalize sales from existing stores; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company, its prospects and revenue growth rate.
Then, on July, 26, 2006, Panera Bread announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2006, the period ended June 27, 2006. In response to this announcement, the price of Panera Bread common stock fell $7.34 per share, or approximately 12%, to close at $51.93 per share, on extremely heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Panera Bread common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. Coughlin Stoia lawyers have been responsible for more than $45 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.
