LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 16, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Emerson Firm, a law firm with offices in Houston, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas, today announced that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of JDS Uniphase Corp. (Nasdaq:JDSU) ("JDS Uniphase" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between July 27, 1999 and July 26, 2001, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court or The Emerson Firm.
The complaint charges JDS Uniphase, certain of its officers and directors and its controlling shareholder with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. JDS Uniphase is a provider of fiber optic components and modules which form the building blocks for fiber optic networks. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants were motivated to inflate the value of JDS Uniphase stock so that the Company could make acquisitions using stock and so the individual defendants, who are the top officers and directors of JDS Uniphase, could sell their shares. During the Class Period, defendants represented that demand was accelerating and the Company's only problem was its ability to manufacture enough product to meet demand. Defendants represented that they had outstanding visibility, including demand for the Company's products through the end of fiscal 2001 ("F01" ended on June 30, 2001), and that JDS Uniphase had 80 engineers whose job it was to monitor customers and their inventory levels and as a result, JDS Uniphase would learn about any slowdown in demand early. The Company also misrepresented the success of its largest acquisitions, including Optical Coating Labs, Cronos Integrated Microsystems, E-Tek Dynamics and SDL Inc. As a result of these positive statements, JDS Uniphase stock traded as high as $146.32.
The Individual Defendants (all of whom were top officers and directors of the Company) and its controlling shareholder took advantage of the inflation, selling or disposing of 25.5 million shares of their JDS Uniphase stock for proceeds of $2.1 billion. Then, on July 26, 2001, JDS Uniphase announced the restatement of its 3rdQ F01 results, the write-off of $44 billion in goodwill associated with its acquisitions, inventory write-downs and that F01 EPS would be only $0.16 and that it would incur a loss of $0.15 in F02. On this news, JDS Uniphase shares dropped to as low as $7.90 -- or more than 94% lower than the Class Period high of $146.32.
If you bought JDS Uniphase publicly traded securities between July 27, 1999 and July 26, 2001 inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 20, 2002. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action by contacting Tanya Autry in the Investor Relations Department of the firm by calling toll-free 1-800-663-9817. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through The Emerson Firm or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The Emerson Firm has substantial experience representing investors in securities fraud class action lawsuits such as this. The firm has offices in Texas and Arkansas, but represents investors throughout the nation. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca