NEW YORK, March 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart (“Instacart” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CART) and certain officers and directors. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 24-cv-00465, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired: (a) Instacart common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents (defined below) issued in connection with the Company’s initial public offering conducted on or about September 19, 2023 (the “IPO” or “Offering”); and/or (b) Instacart securities between September 19, 2023 and October 1, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Instacart common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents issued in connection with the IPO and/or Instacart securities during the Class Period, you have until March 25, 2024 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Instacart provides online grocery shopping services to households in North America. The Company sells and delivers a range of products in the food, alcohol, consumer health, pet care, and ready-made meals categories, in addition to others. The Company offers its services through a mobile application and website, while also providing software-as-a-service solutions to retailers.
On August 25, 2023, Instacart filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in connection with the IPO, which, after several amendments, was declared effective by the SEC on September 18, 2023 (the “Registration Statement”).
On September 19, 2023, pursuant to the Registration Statement, Instacart’s common stock began publicly trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the ticker symbol “CART”.
On September 20, 2023, Instacart filed a prospectus on Form 424B4 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which incorporated and formed part of the Registration Statement (the “Prospectus” and, collectively with the Registration Statement, the “Offering Documents”).
Pursuant to the Offering Documents, Instacart and other selling stockholders identified in the Prospectus sold 14.1 million and 7.9 million shares of the Company’s common stock to the public, respectively, at the Offering price of $30.00 per share for total proceeds of approximately $400 million and $224 million to Instacart and the selling stockholders, respectively, after applicable underwriting discounts and commissions.
The complaint alleges that the Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation. In addition, the complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, the Offering Documents and Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Instacart had overstated the extent to which online grocery shopping and delivery habits among consumers were accelerating; (ii) Instacart had downplayed the extent of the competition that it faced in the online grocery shopping and delivery market; (iii) accordingly, Defendants overstated the Company’s post-IPO growth, business, and financial prospects; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On September 22, 2023, Reuters published an article noting, among other things, that Instacart’s stock price was falling after “lukewarm analyst reports” indicated that the Company would struggle from heavy competition. For example, the article noted that “BTIG analyst Jake Fuller gave Instacart a ‘neutral’ rating and warned that the company faces heavy competition from DoorDash (DASH.N) and Uber Technologies (UBER.N) in the slowly expanding market of grocery delivery.”
On this news, Instacart’s stock price fell $0.65 per share, or 2.12%, to close at $30.00 per share on September 22, 2023.
Then, on October 2, 2023, investment research firm Gordon Haskett initiated coverage of Instacart with a “hold” rating, stating that it “ha[s] doubts that online grocery delivery adoption will continue to materially increase at a time when consumers are becoming increasingly cautious about spending”, while similarly citing the competitive environment in the online grocery shopping and delivery market as a headwind to the Company’s business.
On this news, Instacart’s stock price fell $2.73 per share, or 9.2%, to close at $26.96 per share on October 2, 2023.
As of the time the complaint was filed, Instacart’s common stock continues to trade below the $30.00 per share Offering price, damaging investors.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
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CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
dpeyton@pomlaw.com
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
