The City of Roseville Employees' Retirement System filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Apple shareholders, alleging the iPhone developer violated federal securities laws, according to Apple Insider.
In the complaint, the shareholders claim Apple CEO Tim Cook, CFO Luca Maestri and other executives made false and misleading statements regarding iPhone sales, performance in China and earnings forecasts, Apple Insider reports. These misleading statements resulted in artificially inflated stock prices in the last calendar quarter of 2018.
Apple saw material losses as share prices dipped after the company released a guidance revision in January, the complaint says.
Shareholders are questioning the period between Nov. 2, 2018 and the day following Apple's fourth fiscal quarter financial report release, reports Apple Insider. The complaint claims that Mr. Cook and Mr. Maestri reiterated record-breaking guidance for the first quarter of 2019 during a conference call in that period, with expected revenue between $89 billion and $93 billion.
However, Apple posted $84.3 billion in revenue for the first quarter. The loss was attributed to a 15 percent decrease in iPhone sales, the report cites.
The complaint alleges Apple "lacked a reasonable basis in fact" when it provided its revenue guidance for the fiscal quarter, according to Apple Insider.