The deal as I see it is since HR was shorting the stock and then published their "opinions", they clearly intended to damage the company for profit. It shows HR had a premeditated plan and a major conflict of interest at work. If they just posted "We think YRIV sucks" without any financial conflicts (and actually did some honest research), they might have a leg to stand on in this suit. But that's not what happened. The threshold for defamation is pretty high. But I think YRIV can and will meet it.