Rite Aid Corp (RADCQ)

[fung_derf]

CASE ALLEGATIONS: Rite Aid operates through two segments, Retail Pharmacy and Pharmacy Services. Rite Aid's Pharmacy Services segment provides an integrated suite of pharmacy benefit management ("PBM") offerings through, among other things, Rite Aid's Elixir subsidiary, including technology solutions, mail delivery services, specialty pharmacy, network and rebate administration, claims adjudication, and pharmacy discount programs.

The Rite Aid class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period failed to disclose that: (i) despite representations to the contrary, the number of new members (i.e., "lives") that the Elixir PBM services business was adding during the selling season ending on January 1, 2023 was in material decline; and (ii) Rite Aid was likely to recognize a significant charge for the impairment of goodwill related to Elixir due to a decrease in "lives" covered by Elixir's PBM services business.

On September 29, 2022, Rite Aid announced a $252.2 million charge for the impairment of goodwill related to Rite Aid's Elixir subsidiary. On an earnings call held later in the day, Rite Aid's CFO, defendant Matt Schroeder, explained that the large impairment charge was related to Elixir based on "an update to our estimate of lives for 2023 based on the latest selling season," and that Rite Aid "expected[ed] lives to go down." On this news, Rite Aid's stock price fell by more than 28.02%, damaging investors.