Abiomed (NSDQ:ABMD) logged another win in a shareholders lawsuit accusing it and its management of misleading investors over the prospects for its flagship Impella 2.5 heart pump.
Danvers, Mass.-based Abiomed fielded several lawsuits brought by shareholders after a pair of FDA warning letters in 2010 and 2011 sent its share price plummeting.
Last summer the company prevailed in 1 of those suits when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit upheld a district court’s dismissal of the case.
Last week the appeals court upheld another dismissal ruling, according to court documents, finding that the plaintiff’s failed to prove their allegations against Abiomed, CEO Michael Minogue and CFO Robert Bowen.
“Even assuming that plaintiffs plausibly alleged that defendants made false or misleading statements which had a material effect on Abiomed’s stock price – a matter that is far from clear – plaintiffs have not sufficiently alleged that defendants made those statements with the "conscious intent to defraud or ‘a high degree of recklessness,’" wrote Chief Judge Sandra Lynch in the Feb. 6 decision.
The picture has changed considerably for Abiomed and its investors since November 2012, when news of government probes into the alleged misconduct sent its shares down 30% to $13.87 each in a single day.
ABMD shares hit an all-time high of $53.89 in late January after the company crushed expectations with its fiscal 3rd-quarter results and boosted its outlook for fiscal 2015.
The stock was trading at $57.72 per share in early trading today, down slightly after posting another all-time high of $58.01.