GlobeNewswire Inc | Aug 19, 2020 06:00PM EDT

August 19, 2020

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 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 Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII), Wins Finance Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: WINS), Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC). 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.

Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII)

Class Period: August 2, 2017 to June 29, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 21, 2020

On October 19, 2015, the Company announced that it has signed a fifteen-year deal with Schlumberger Technology Corp. (Schlumberger), which gave Schlumberger the exclusive right to the use of the Companys VorTeq technology (the Schlumberger Licensing Agreement). Under the terms of the Schlumberger Licensing Agreement, Schlumberger paid $75 million exclusivity fee and was to pay an additional $50 million milestone payments in 2016. The terms also dictated that Schlumberger would pay continuing annual royalties for the duration of the license agreement, subject to the satisfaction of certain key performance indicators.

On June 29, 2020 not even five years into the Schlumberger License Agreement the Company issued a press release, announcing the termination of the licensing agreement with Schlumberger, citing to different strategic perspectives as to the path to VorTeq commercialization. The Company further announced that following the termination, no further payments will be made by either party and that Energy Recovery will now be fully responsible for commercialization of the VorTeq technology globally.

This news caused a sharp decline in the price of Energy Recovery shares, which fell 15.8%, to close at $7.59 on June 30, 2020. Several securities analysts downgraded Energy Recoverys rating and significantly lowered the Companys price target. As one analyst commented, [the Company] should have been able to perceive in advance and then explicitly warn about the significant, and likely rising, odds of this outcome.

The complaint, filed on July 21, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and financial health. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors that: (i) the Company and Schlumberger had different strategic perspectives regarding commercialization of VorTeq; (ii) which created substantial risk of early termination of the Companys exclusive licensing agreement with Schlumberger; (iii) accordingly, the revenue guidance and expectations of future license revenue was false and lacked reasonable basis; and (iv) as a result, defendants public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times or lacked a reasonable basis and omitted material facts.

For more information on the Energy Recovery class action go to: https://bespc.com/ERII

Wins Finance Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: WINS)

Class Period: October 31, 2018 to July 6, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 23, 2020

Wins, through its subsidiaries, purports to provide financing solutions for small and medium enterprises in the Peoples Republic of China. The Company purports to offer financial guarantees, as well as financial leasing, advisory, consultancy, and agency services in Jinzhong City,Shanxi Province, andBeijing.

In 2014, Wins entered into a RMB 580 million credit agreement with Guohong Asset Management Co., Ltd. (the Guohong Loan), pursuant to which Guohongs repayment was due to Wins in October 2019.

InSeptember 2017, Wins engaged Centurion ZD CPA & Co. (CZD) as its independent registered public accounting firm after dismissing its previous accounting firm.

OnOctober 31, 2019, Wins filed a notification of inability to timely file Form 20-F on Form NT 20-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) (the 2019 NT 20-F).

The following trading day, the Companys stock price declined from$11.90to$11.20, or 5.8%.

OnNovember 19, 2019, Wins issued a press release announcing its receipt of a notification letter from the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications and its intent to submit a plan of compliance, adding that the filing of the 2019 20-F was untimely due to the uncertainty over recovery of the Guohong Loan but assuring investors that failure to collect on the loan would not impact the Companys ongoing operations.

Then, onMay 26, 2020, Wins issued a press release announcing that the Company received a delisting determination letter from Nasdaq. The press release stated, in relevant part, [a]s disclosed previously, the Company is working assiduously to complete its delinquent filing with SEC and to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing rule as soon as possible.

On this news, Winss stock price closed at$7.81per share on May 26, 2020, in contrast to its previous close of$10.06, a decline of 22.3%.

The Companys undisclosed ongoing financial difficultiesincluding non-repayment of the Guohong Loanand material control weaknesses came to a head onJune 30, 2020, when CZD resigned as the Companys independent auditor after less than three years in that role. OnJuly 6, 2020, Wins issued a press release announcing CZDs resignation.

On this news, Winss stock price fell$2.06per share, or 6.1%, to close at$31.70per share onJuly 7, 2020.

The Complaint, filed on July 24, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Companys business, operational, and compliance policies. Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the ultimate repayment of theRMB 580 millionGuohong Loan was highly uncertain; (ii) nonpayment of the Guohong Loan would have a significant impact on the Companys financial and operating condition; (iii) weaknesses in Winss internal control over its financial reporting persisted despite the Companys repeated assurances to investors that it was taking steps to remediate these weaknesses; (iv) the foregoing issues, among others, made the resignation of Winss independent auditor foreseeably likely; and (v) as a result, the Companys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

For more information on the Wins Finance class action go to: https://bespc.com/WINS-2

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE)

Class Period: March 6, 2019 to March 4, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 23, 2020

Guidewire provides enterprise-level software systems for the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry. During the Class Period, defendants represented to investors that Guidewire was well-positioned to capitalize on a shift in the P&C insurance industry away from on-premise software systems to software systems provided over the cloud. Defendants touted the robust demand that existed for Guidewires cloud-based products and assured investors that customer demand was enduring and broad-based across most or all segments of the market. Defendants further touted the demand for Guidewires cloud offering by reporting, at the end of each quarter, that cloud sales represented a substantial and growing percentage of the Companys overall sales. The Company also issued highly favorable revenue and Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) guidance, and assured investors that customer demand remained strong across the Companys entire product offering, including its legacy on-premise business.

On March 4, 2020, only three months after reiterating its strong revenue guidance for fiscal 2020, the truth about Guidewires failed cloud transition emerged. In announcing its financial results for the second quarter of 2020, the Company was forced to slash its revenue guidance for fiscal year 2020 by $57 million, from a range of $759 million to $771 million down to $702 million to $714 million. Rather than forecasting a year-over-year revenue increase of up to 7% for fiscal 2020, the Company was now forecasting a substantial revenue decline of approximately 7.5%. The Company similarly lowered its critical ARR guidance to be between 11% and 12% in fiscal 2020, compared to its previous range of 14% to 16%.

On this news, Guidewires stock price plummeted by 17% in a single day, falling from $112.48 on March 3, 2020 to $93.56 on March 4, 2020, a decline of $18.92 per share.

The complaint, filed on July 24, 2020, alleges that the demand for Guidewires cloud products was weak and the Companys transition to the cloud was not going well because Guidewires cloud-based products needed to be significantly improved to meet customer needs and catch-up with rival systems. Further, Guidewires failed transition to the cloud was damaging the Companys traditional on-premise business, as customers delayed purchasing decisions or declined to renew existing licenses. As a result, Guidewires revenue guidance, including guidance principally based on significantly increasing demand for the Companys cloud-based products, was baseless and unattainable.

For more information on the Guidewire class action go to: https://bespc.com/GWRE

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC)

Class Period: April 23, 2020 to July 23, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 28, 2020

On July 23, 2020, after the market closed, Intel disclosed that production of its 7-nanometer chips would be delayed after the Company had identified a defect mode in [its] 7-nanometer process that resulted in yield degradation.

On this news, the Companys share price fell by $9.81, or approximately 16%, to close at $50.59 per share on July 24, 2020.

The complaint, filed on July 28, 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 Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Intel had identified a defect mode in its 7-nanometer process that resulted in yield degradation; (2) that, as a result, the Company would experience a six-month delay in its production schedule for 7-nanometer products; (3) that Intel was reasonably likely to rely on third-party foundries for manufacturing its 7-nanometer products; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Intel was reasonably likely to lose market share to its competitors who are already selling 7-nanometer products; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

For more information on the Intel class action go to: https://bespc.com/INTC-2

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.(212) 355-4648investigations@bespc.comwww.bespc.com