Class Action Lawsuit Vs. Seagate Filed by Kirby McInerney

The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of those who acquired Seagate Technology Holdings plc securities during the period from September 15, 2020 through October 25, 2022.

Investors have until September 8, 2023 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Seagate is a supplier of data storage products, including HDDs.

On October 26, 2022, it issued a Form 8-K disclosing that it had received a Proposed Charging Letter from the Bureau of Industry and Security, which alleged violations of the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The Form 8-K stated that the “PCL alleges Seagate acted in violation of the EAR by providing Seagate HDDs to a customer and its affiliates listed on the BIS Entity List between August 2020 and September 2021.”

On this news, the price of Seagate shares declined by $4.61 per share, or approximately 7.95%, from $58.00 per share to close at $53.39 on October 26, 2023.

The lawsuit alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose:

• (i) the nature and magnitude of Seagate’s HDD sales to Huawei, including that Seagate experienced a significant acceleration in sales to Huawei immediately after the BIS rules went into effect and Seagate’s competitors stopped selling to Huawei; and
• (ii) that the underlying details of Seagate’s HDD manufacturing process, including the use of covered U.S. software and technology in “essential ‘production’” processes, rendered its sales to Huawei in violation of the BIS export rules.