GlobeNewswire Inc | Jun 28, 2021 04:37PM EDT

June 28, 2021

NEW YORK, June 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Aterian, Inc. fka Mohawk Group Holdings, Inc. (Aterian or the Company)(NASDAQ: ATER) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 21-cv-05163, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Aterian securities between December 1, 2020 and May 3, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act).

If you are a shareholder who purchased Aterian securities during the Class Period, you have until July 12, 2021 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 Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (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]

Aterian purports to be a technology-enabled consumer products platform that builds, acquires and partners with e-commerce brands. The Companys proprietary software and highly agile supply chain helps creating for a growing base of data empowered e-commerce customers. Aterian predominantly operates through online retail channels such as Amazon and Walmart, Inc.

The complaint alleges throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Companys organic growth is plummeting; (ii) the Companys recent, self-lauded acquisitions were overpayments for flawed assets from questionable sources; (iii) Aterians purported artificial intelligence software is a flawed product that lacks customer interest; (iv) Aterian uses rebate programs and paid or artificial reviews to pump up their product offerings; and (v) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On December 1, 2020, the Company announced that it had acquired the assets of leading e-commerce business brands Mueller, Pursteam, Pohl and Schmitt, and Spiralizer from 9830 Macarthur LLC, ZN Direct LLC, and Reliance Equities Group, LLC. On this news, shares jumped from their December 1, 2020 close of $6.89 per share to a December 2, 2020 close of $8.12, representing a one-day surge of nearly 18%. Shares continued to soar, closing at $17.21 per share on December 31, 2020, and eventually approaching nearly $49.00 per share in mid-February 2021.

On May 4, 2021, analyst Culper Research published a scathing report entitled: Aterian (ATER): Bought from Felons & Fraudsters, Sold to You. In this report, Culper wrote that the Company has ties to convicted criminals and is promoting what we believe is an overhyped AI narrative and a string of garbage acquisitions to mask the failure of its already ill-conceived core business. Culper continued that Aterian has been largely unsuccessful in convincing other Amazon sellers to pay for its AIMEE AI platform, and at least 5 former employees and a former customer have expressed doubts regarding AIMEEs legitimacy. We think that Aterians underlying business has failed, forcing the Company to obscure its poor performance with a series of questionable acquisitions.

Culper further wrote: [w]e believe that there are serious problems with Aterians claims to maintain strong organic growth and to drive M&A synergies: to us, neither of these appears to be the case. . . . In our view, this suggests not only that Aterian is unable to growth EBITDA at acquired businesses, but that its core business is also failing to produce.

On this news, the price of Aterian stock fell from its May 3, 2021 close of $20.66 to a May 5, 2021 close of $15.72 per share, a two-day drop of $4.94 per share or approximately 24%.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris 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, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm 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 numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 7980