Is “on track” the most dangerous phrase a corporation can use to describe its business? Over the years, there have been a significant number of securities class actions alleging a company’s statement that a regulatory approval process or financial metric was “on track” constituted securities fraud. Defendants typically argue that “on track” is inherently forward-looking (because one cannot know whether something is actually on track until the final results are obtained) and, therefore, protected from liability by the PSLRA’s safe harbor for forward-looking statements. While some courts have held that “on track” cannot be distinguished from the underlying projection and the safe harbor applies, other courts have concluded that “on track” is a statement of present condition.
Another, more recent legal complication, is whether “on track” should actually be assessed as an alleged false opinion subject to the Omnicare standard. In Omnicare, the Supreme Court held (albeit in the context of a non-fraud Section 11 claim) that an opinion is actionable if either (a) the opinion was not genuinely held, or (b) the holder of the opinion omitted material facts about its inquiry into, or knowledge concerning, the opinion.
In Bielousov v. GoPro, Inc., 2017 WL 3168522 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2017), the court considered whether the CFO’s statement “We believe we’re still on track to make [GoPro’s financial guidance] as well” was a forward-looking statement covered by the PSLRA’s safe harbor. The court held that because the CFO included the phrase “we believe” in his statement, it was a statement of present opinion about “his and GoPro’s existing state of mind.” Accordingly, the PSLRA’s safe harbor did not apply and the statement should be examined under the Omnicare standard.
Holding: Motion to dismiss denied.
The 10b-5 Daily 