NEW YORK, June 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Luminar Technologies, Inc. (“Luminar” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LAZR), and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and docketed under 23-cv-00982, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Luminar securities between February 28, 2023 and March 17, 2023, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against Defendants.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Luminar securities during the Class Period, you have until July 25, 2023 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 [email protected] 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.Â
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Luminar is an automotive technology company that provides sensor technologies and software for passenger cars and commercial trucks in domestic and international markets. The Company purports to develop, inter alia, photonic integrated circuits (“PICs”)—a type of chip that contains photonic components, as opposed to merely electronic components—for its semiconductor products.Â
PICs are an important component of light detection and ranging (“LIDAR”) technologies, which have become useful for a variety of industries, including the automotive industry in which Luminar operates. LIDAR technology has become particularly useful in the development of autonomous vehicles. Accordingly, the development of sleeker, simpler, and smaller LIDAR components, including PICs, has become a core focus for managing costs and economies of scale in the mass production of these technologies.
In February 2023, Luminar held its “Luminar Day” investor conference. In discussing the Company’s chip strategy as part of the event, Luminar displayed an image of its purported PIC technology, which was elegant, simple in design, and appeared poised for driving economies of scale and cost reduction in the industry.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Luminar had misappropriated an image of a competitor’s PIC to market the Company’s own products and capabilities; (ii) the foregoing conduct subjected the Company to a heightened risk of, inter alia, litigation and/or regulatory enforcement action; (iii) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to negatively impact Luminar’s business and reputation; and (iv) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On March 17, 2023, Forbes reported that the semiconductor developer Lidwave had accused Luminar of attempting to pass off a Lidwave PIC as Luminar’s own technology after showing an image of the PIC at the Company’s Luminar Day investor conference and in materials on its website, threatening Luminar with legal action.Â
On this news, Luminar’s stock price fell $0.78 per share, or 9.09%, over two consecutive trading days to close at $7.80 per share on March 20, 2023.
Notably, after Lidwave threatened Luminar with legal action, the Company removed the offending image of Lidwave’s PIC from its investor presentation and website, as well as removed a YouTube video that included the image of Lidwave’s PIC. In updating the Luminar Day investor presentation, the Company conspicuously replaced what was originally a colorful picture of Lidwave’s PIC—which presented an elegant, sleek, and simple design—with a microscopic, black-and-white photo of the Company’s own PIC technology, which could have been a picture of either the entire PIC or an individual microscopic section of the chip, and which was, in any event, a far less appealing and bulkier image to market to investors.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, 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, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz 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 billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
SOURCE Pomerantz LLP