Allegations
According to the complaint, defendants provided investors with material information concerning Edwards’ expected revenue for the fiscal year 2024, particularly as it related to the growth of the Company’s core product, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (“TAVR”). Defendants’ statements included, among other things, strong commitment to the TAVR platform, confidence in the Company’s ability to capitalize on a subset of untreated patients through scaling of its various patient activation activities, and continued claims of significant demand in allegedly lower-penetrated markets.
On July 24, 2024, Edwards unveiled below-expectation financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 and, in particular, slashed its revenue guidance for the TAVR platform for the full fiscal year 2024. The Company attributed the TAVR setback on the “continued growth and expansion of structural heart therapies … [which] put pressure on hospital workflows.” Investors understood this to mean that developments in new procedures, including defendant’s own Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies (“TMTT”), put significant strain on hospital structural heart teams such that they were underutilizing TAVR, despite the Company’s continued claim of a significantly undertreated patient population. Moreover, the Company announced three acquisitions during the second quarter designed to embolden their treatments alternative to TAVR, suggesting further that the company was aware of the potential for the TAVR platform’s decelerated growth.
Investors and analysts reacted immediately to Edwards’ revelations. The price of Edwards’ common stock declined dramatically. From a closing market price of $86.95 per share on July 24, 2024, Edwards’ stock price fell to $59.70 per share on July 25, 2024, a decline of about 31.34% in the span of just a single day.