Robbins Geller Secures $490 Million Securities Fraud Recovery From Apple

Case Concerned Fraud Allegations Regarding Apple’s China Strategy

After five years of litigation, investors led by Norfolk County Council as Administering Authority of the Norfolk Pension Fund secured a $490 million recovery in a securities fraud class action case alleging Apple CEO Timothy Cook made false and misleading statements to investors.

“This $490 million recovery is not just an outstanding result for investors who purchased their Apple securities during the two-month class period, it is a testament to the perseverance of the lead plaintiff, the U.K.’s Norfolk Pension Fund, in pursuing the action to the brink of trial,” said Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP partner Shawn A. Williams, who served as lead counsel for investors.

The settlement is pending approval before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California.

Key Allegations in the Case

Partner Mark Solomon, who leads the Firm’s international practice and serves as counsel for the class in this case, said the recovery is “a historic result for a U.K. fund leading shareholder litigation in the United States.”

On an investor conference call in November 2018, Apple allegedly misrepresented the condition of the company’s current business in Greater China, including demand for the iPhone in the region. On the call, Apple stated that the company was not being negatively impacted by deteriorating economic conditions like other emerging markets that it operated in. Four days after the call, Apple substantially reduced iPhone production.

In January 2019, Apple announced that it would miss its quarterly earnings for the first time in more than 15 years. The reason given for the shortfall of up to $9 billion was weak iPhone sales in Greater China caused by economic problems in that country. This news caused the market price of Apple stock to plunge more than 9%, damaging investors.

The litigation was intensely contested at every stage. The Robbins Geller team defeated defendants’ motion to dismiss, obtained class certification, and defeated defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Apple and its executives admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

Key Facts About the Settlement

• This will be the third-largest securities class action recovery ever in the Northern District of California and the fifth-largest such recovery ever in the Ninth Circuit, if approved by the court.
• The Apple case is one of multiple historic cases Robbins Geller has prosecuted against Big Tech in recent years.
• Williams also served as lead counsel in a case against Facebook that recovered a then-record $650 million for consumers, the largest privacy class action settlement at the time. The Facebook case alleged the company was extracting biometric information from users in violation of Illinois privacy law.
• Earlier this year, partner Jason A. Forge led a Robbins Geller trial team that recently secured a $350 million recovery for Alphabet investors in a securities fraud class action, which is pending court approval.

Robbins Geller attorneys Shawn A. Williams, Mark Solomon, Jason A. Forge, Daniel J. Pfefferbaum, Kenneth J. Black, Hadiya K. Deshmukh, and Jacob G. Gelman are representing Apple investors.

About Robbins Geller

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading complex litigation firms, representing plaintiffs in securities fraud, shareholder derivative, antitrust, corporate takeover, and consumer fraud and privacy cases. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the world’s largest plaintiffs’ firms, and the Firm’s attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities, antitrust, and consumer class action recoveries in history.

The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022 – the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs’ firm. The Firm secured the largest-ever securities fraud class action settlement – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Securities Litigation.

For media inquiries, please contact media@rgrdlaw.com or call (619) 338-3821.

In re Apple Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 4:19-cv-02033-YGR (N.D. Cal.).