NEW YORK, Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of 500.com Limited (NYSE: WBAI), Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTLA), Qudian, Inc. (NYSE: QD), and Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.

500.com Limited (NYSE: WBAI)

Class Period: April 27, 2018 to December 31, 2019

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Mach 16, 2020

On December 31, 2019, the Company disclosed an internal investigation regarding alleged illegal money transfers after one of its former directors was arrested. 500.com also announced that its Chairman of the Board of Directors resigned and that its Chief Executive Officer would “step aside” from his position until the investigation concluded.

On this news, the Company’s share price fell as much as $0.94 per share, nearly 11% on January 2, 2020, thereby injuring investors.

The complaint, filed on January 15, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) 500.com executives and consultants engaged in a bribery scheme with Japanese officials in an effort to gain favor in a bid to run an upcoming Japanese casino resort; (2) consequently, 500.com was in violation of Japanese anti-bribery laws and its Code of Ethics; and (3) as a result, defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

To learn more about the 500.com class action go to: https://bespc.com/wbai

Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTLA)

Class Period: November 5, 2019 to January 9, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 16, 2020

On January 9, 2020, Portola announced preliminary net revenues of only $28 million for the fourth quarter of 2019. Portola attributed the result to a $5 million reserve adjustment for short-dated product, and flat quarter-over-quarter demand.

On this news, Portola’s share price fell $9.98, or 40%, to close at $14.76 per share on January 10, 2020.

The complaint, filed on January 16, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Portola’s internal control over financial reporting regarding reserve for product returns was not effective; (2) that Portola was shipping longer-dated product with 36-month shelf life; (3) that Portola had not established adequate reserve for returns of prior shipments of short-dated product; (4) that, as a result, Portola was reasonably likely to need to “catch up” on accounting for return reserves; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

To learn more about the Portola class action go to: https://bespc.com/ptla

Qudian, Inc. (NYSE: QD)

Class Period: December 13, 2018 to January 15, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 23, 2020

On January 16, 2020, Qudian issued a press release announcing. “the Company withdraws its fiscal 2019 guidance and will not issue guidance in the near term due to uncertainty related to the recent regulatory and operating environment.”  The press release further stated that “China’s online consumer finance industry was affected by several regulatory developments in the fourth quarter of 2019, including further restrictions on loan collection practices, more stringent user data privacy rules and the requirements for P2P lending platforms to orderly exit their P2P businesses,” which had “reduced the availability of funding for consumer credit and driven up delinquency rates across the industry, including the Company’s loan portfolio.”

On this news, Qudian’s ADS price fell $0.84 per share, or 19.13%, to close at $3.55 per share on January 16, 2020.

The Complaint, filed on January 23, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies.  Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) regulatory developments in China threatened to negatively impact Qudian’s fiscal full year 2019 (“FY19”) financial results;  (ii) Qudian’s business was unprepared to mitigate the risks associated with these regulatory changes; (iii) as a result, Qudian’s loan portfolio was plagued by growing delinquency rates; (iv) all of the foregoing made Qudian’s repeated assertions concerning its FY19 financial guidance unrealistic; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

For more information on the Qudian class action go to: https://bespc.com/qd

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN)

Class Period: March 19, 2018 to September 26, 2018

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 23, 2020

The complaint, filed on January 23, 2020, alleges that defendants misled investors regarding a drug called imetelstat, which was intended to treat certain cancers that occur in bone marrow. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that defendants misled investors about the results of a clinical drug study of imetelstat called IMbark. That study was designed to ascertain whether imetelstat helped patients with a cancer called myelofibrosis.

On September 27, 2018, the company issued a press release stating that patients in the IMbark study had shown only 10% spleen response rate and 32% symptom response rate.  The company also announced that Janssen had terminated its partnership with the Geron for the development of imetelstat. 

On this news, the price of Geron's stock dropped from $6.23 to $2.31 on September 27, 2018, a decrease of over 62%.

For more information on the Geron class action go to: https://bespc.com/gern

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. 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. 

Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
Marion Passmore, Esq.
(646) 860-9156
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com