The complaint also alleges that defendants engaged in
channel stuffing at the end of the fourth quarter of 2004 in order to meet sales projections and analyst's expectations.
As alleged in the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (I) that the Company was engaging in aggressive sales practices, known as
channel stuffing, whereby it induced customers to take product that they neither wanted, needed or could sell in the short-term.
The suit charges that Avon engages in
channel stuffing, in which Avon forces products on its sales representatives by deliberately shipping them products they did not order, or products far in excess of the quantities they ordered.
The Complaint alleges that the Defendants violated Sections 10(b), 20(a) and 20A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by failing to disclose to the investing public that CCE had a longstanding and systemic practice of
channel stuffing -- forcing extra product onto its customers to boost revenue.
CCE's reported financial results and future earnings prospects were materially misleading without disclosure of CCE's
channel stuffing practices and how those practices affected CCE's financial condition.
There is little shift in market share between GPU vendors quarter to quarter, which suggests there is no
channel stuffing or double ordering.
The complaint further alleges that, at the commencement of the Class Period, the Company's market share was decreasing and that, rather than reverse this negative trend, or fully disclose it, defendants launched a largely successful campaign that employed
channel stuffing and the dissemination of materially false and misleading statements to prop up reported revenues and earnings, and the Company's share price, long enough for Estee Lauder insiders to sell millions of their personally held Estee Lauder shares to unsuspecting investors at prices that were artificially inflated by defendants' false and misleading statements.
which accounted for 51 percent of the accounts receivable last year), and the possibility that
channel stuffing may have hidden slowing growth.
The Registration Statement also failed to disclose that Majesco had engaged in huge
channel stuffing initiatives to achieve 2004 goals and that, as a result, defendants possessed information that the Company would be facing weak sales across all product lines throughout 2005.
Allegations included are: self-dealing, illegal tipping and excessive payments to former officers,
channel stuffing, the Zeoli/Reinhard connection, poison pill, failure to hold annual meeting of stockholders, profit grants without shareholder approval, misleading financial statements for third quarter of 2007, and misleading statements to boost investor confidence.
Further, says Peddie, although there is modest overall demand, and little shift in market share between GPU vendors quarter to quarter (which suggests there is no
channel stuffing or double ordering), "we remain cautious about the second quarter's results.
While many
channel stuffing schemes fall into that gray area between aggressive earnings management and outright fraud, the tactics involved in
channel stuffing enhance current earnings at the expense of future sales, which leads to a slippery slope of needing to artificially boost future earnings as well.
