Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That Class Action Lawsuits Have Been Filed Against Restaurant Brands International and CD Projekt and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm
NEW YORK, Dec. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR) and CD Projekt S.A. (Other OTC: OTGLY, OTGLF). 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.
Restaurant Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: QSR)
Class Period: April 29, 2019 to October 28, 2019
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 19, 2021
On April 24, 2018, Restaurant Brands announced a new strategy designed to improve performance within the Company’s Tim Hortons brand. Specifically, the “Winning Together Plan” would focus on three key pillars: restaurant experience; product excellence; and brand communications.
On March 20, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced “Tims Rewards”—a new loyalty program for Tim Hortons customers in Canada. Under the Tims Rewards program, customers would be eligible for a free hot brewed coffee, hot tea, or baked good after every seventh paid visit to a participating Tim Hortons restaurant. On April 10, 2019, Restaurant Brands announced that it was expanding the Tims Rewards program to include customers in the United States.
Throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly touted the implementation and execution of the Company’s Winning Together Plan and Tims Rewards loyalty program. On the heels of the Company touting the benefits of these initiatives, the Company completed two stock offerings on or about August 12, 2019, and September 5, 2019, collectively resulting in proceeds of approximately $3 billion to insiders.
On October 28, 2019, mere weeks after the offerings were completed, investors learned the truth about Tim Hortons’s hyped growth initiatives when the Company announced disappointing financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019. Specifically, Defendants acknowledged that “results at Tim Hortons were not where we want them to be with global comparable sales dipping into negative territory” and admitted that “discounting [associated with Tims Rewards] is slightly more than offsetting the traffic levels, which is causing a little bit of softness in sales.”
On this news, the price of Restaurant Brands common stock declined $2.59 per share, or approximately 4%, from a close of $68.45 per share on October 25, 2019, to close at $65.86 per share on October 28, 2019.
The complaint, filed on December 21, 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 and operations. Specifically, defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company’s Winning Together Plan was failing to generate substantial, sustainable improvement within the Tim Hortons brand; (2) the Tims Rewards loyalty program was not generating sustainable revenue growth as increased customer traffic was not offsetting promotional discounting; and (3) as a result, defendants’ statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects lacked a reasonable basis.
Class Period: January 16, 2020 to December 17, 2020
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: February 22, 2021
For several years, the Company had been devoting substantially all its resources to the development of Cyberpunk 2077, which the Company described as a “open world, narrative-driven role-playing game.”
The Company launched Cyberpunk 2077 on December 10, 2020. Consumers soon discovered that the Current-Generation Console versions of Cyberpunk 2077 were error-laden and difficult to play. IGN published a scathing review, stating that the Console versions “fail[] to hit even the lowest bar of technical quality one should expect even when playing on lower-end hardware. [Cyberpunk 2077] performs so poorly that it makes combat, driving, and what is otherwise a master craft of storytelling legitimately difficult to look at.”
Following the release, the Company’s ADRs fell from its close of $27.68 on December 9, 2020 to close at $20.75 on December 14, 2020, a drop of $6.93 or 25% over 3 trading days, damaging investors. Over that same period, CD Projekt’s common share (OTGLF) price fell $21.65 per share, or 20.1%, to close at $86.00 on December 14, 2020.
Then, on December 18, 2020, Sony issued a statement via the Playstation website that it would “offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store” and “be removing Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice.” Microsoft also announced that it would offer refunds for the game. That same day, the Company stated that Sony’s decision to “temporarily suspend” sales of the game came after a discussion with the Company.
On this news, CD Projekt’s ADR (OTGLY) price fell $3.44 per share, or 15.8%, to close at $18.50 per ADR on December 18, 2020, damaging investors. CD Projekt’s common share (OTGLF) price fell $9.20 per share, or 10.45%, to close at $78.80 on December 18, 2020.
The complaint, filed on December 24, 2020, alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Cyberpunk 2077 was virtually unplayable on the current-generation Xbox or Playstation systems due to an enormous number of bugs; (2) as a result, Sony would remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the Playstation store, and Sony, Microsoft and CD Projekt would be forced to offer full refunds for the game; (3) consequently, CD Projekt would suffer reputational and pecuniary harm; and (4) 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. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
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.
