Lawsuit Overview
September 18, 2017 - Defendants filed a motion to dismiss.
August 4, 2017 - The lead plaintiff filed an amended consolidated complaint.
June 2, 2017 - Lead plaintiff and lead counsel were appointed and all cases were consolidated.
April 14, 2017 - Lead plaintiff motions were filed.
February 13, 2017 - An investor in shares of USANA Health Sciences Inc (NYSE: USNA) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by USANA Health Sciences Inc in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between March 14, 2014 and February 7, 2017.
On August 16, 2010, USANA Health Sciences Inc announced that it had acquired BabyCare Ltd., a China-based manufacturing company that develops and sells nutritional products primarily for infants.
Over the next six years, USANA Health Sciences Inc steadily expanded BabyCare Ltd.’s market presence in China.
In February 2013, the Company announced that it had received official government approval from the Ministry of Commerce People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”) for direct selling activities in the provinces of Jiangsu and Shaanxi, and the municipality of Tianjin.
In May 2016, USANA Health Sciences Inc announced Ministry of Commerce People’s Republic of China approval for direct selling activities in the provinces of Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Guangdong, as well as the municipalities of Dalian, Qingdao, and Shenzhen.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of USANA Health Sciences Inc (NYSE: USNA) common shares between March 14, 2014 and February 7, 2017, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between March 14, 2014 and February 7, 2017, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that the Company’s BabyCare subsidiary had engaged in improper reimbursement practices in China, that these practices constituted violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), that as such, the Company’s China revenues were in part the product of unlawful conduct and unlikely to be sustainable, that the foregoing conduct, when it became known, was likely to subject the Company to significant regulatory scrutiny, and that as a result of the foregoing, USANA Health Sciences Inc’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
USANA Health Sciences Inc reported that its Total Revenue rose from $918.50 million for the 12 months period that ended on January 2, 2016 to over $1 billion for the 12 months period that ended on December 21, 2016 and that its Net Income for those time periods increased from $94.67 million to $100.04 million.
On February 7, 2017, post-market, USANA Health Sciences Inc disclosed that [t]he Company is voluntarily conducting an internal investigation of its China operations, BabyCare Ltd. . . . focus[ing] on the compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act . . . and certain conduct and policies at BabyCare, including BabyCare's expense reimbursement policies.
USANA Health Sciences Inc advised investors that the company had retained outside counsel to conduct the investigation and had notified both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice of the investigation. Shares of USANA Health Sciences Inc (NYSE: USNA) declined from $63.45 per share on February 7, 2016 to as low as $54.25 per share on February 8, 2017.
On February 13, 2017, NYSE: USNA shares closed at $56.25 per share.