NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder law firm, reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of Qudian, Inc. (NYSE: QD), Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN), and Opera Limited (NASDAQ: OPRA). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.

Qudian, Inc. (NYSE: QD)

Class Period: December 13, 2018 to January 15, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 23, 2020

On January 16, 2020, Qudian issued a press release announcing “the Company withdraws its fiscal 2019 guidance and will not issue guidance in the near term due to uncertainty related to the recent regulatory and operating environment.”  The press release further stated that “China’s online consumer finance industry was affected by several regulatory developments in the fourth quarter of 2019, including further restrictions on loan collection practices, more stringent user data privacy rules and the requirements for P2P lending platforms to orderly exit their P2P businesses,” which had “reduced the availability of funding for consumer credit and driven up delinquency rates across the industry, including the Company’s loan portfolio.”

On this news, Qudian’s ADS price fell $0.84 per share, or 19.13%, to close at $3.55 per share on January 16, 2020.

The Complaint, filed on January 23, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies.  Specifically, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) regulatory developments in China threatened to negatively impact Qudian’s fiscal full year 2019 (“FY19”) financial results;  (ii) Qudian’s business was unprepared to mitigate the risks associated with these regulatory changes; (iii) as a result, Qudian’s loan portfolio was plagued by growing delinquency rates; (iv) all of the foregoing made Qudian’s repeated assertions concerning its FY19 financial guidance unrealistic; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

For more information on the Qudian class action go to: https://bespc.com/qd

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN)

Class Period: March 19, 2018 to September 26, 2018

Lead plaintiff Deadline: March 23, 2020

The complaint, filed on January 23, 2020, alleges that defendants misled investors regarding a drug called imetelstat, which was intended to treat certain cancers that occur in bone marrow. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that defendants misled investors about the results of a clinical drug study of imetelstat called IMbark. That study was designed to ascertain whether imetelstat helped patients with a cancer called myelofibrosis.

On September 27, 2018, the company issued a press release stating that patients in the IMbark study had shown only 10% spleen response rate and 32% symptom response rate.  The company also announced that Janssen had terminated its partnership with the Geron for the development of imetelstat. 

On this news, the price of Geron's stock dropped from $6.23 to $2.31 on September 27, 2018, a decrease of over 62%.

For more information on the Geron class action go to: https://bespc.com/gern

Opera Limited (NASDAQ: OPRA)

Class Period: Securities purchased pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s initial public offering commenced on or about July 27, 2018 (the “IPO” or “Offering”) and/or between July 27, 2018 and January 15, 2020 (the “Class Period”).

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 23, 2020

On January 16, 2020, Hindenburg Research (“Hindenburg”) published a report stating that Hindenburg had “a 12-month price target of $2.60 on Opera, representing a 70% downside.”  Among other issues, Hindenburg reported that Opera’s “browser market share is declining rapidly, down ~30% since its IPO”; that Opera was involved in “predatory short-term loans in Africa and India, deploying deceptive ‘bait and switch’ tactics to lure in borrowers and charging egregious interest rates ranging from ~365-876%”; that Opera’s lending business applications, many of which are offered on Google’s Play Store—particularly, OKash, OPesa, CashBean, and Opay—were “in black and white violation of numerous Google rules” aimed at “curtail[ing] predatory lending”; and that consequently, Opera’s entire lending business was “at risk of disappearing or being severely curtailed when Google notices” Opera’s alleged violation of its rules.

Following this news, Opera’s ADS price fell $1.69 per share, or 18.74%, to close at $7.33 per share on January 16, 2020.

The Complaint, filed on January 24, 2020, alleges that the offering documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation.  Additionally, throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies.  Specifically, the offering documents and defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Opera’s sustainable growth and market opportunity for its browser applications was significantly overstated; (ii) defendants’ funded, owned, or otherwise controlled loan services applications and/or businesses relied on predatory lending practices; (iii) all the foregoing, once revealed, were reasonably likely to have a material negative impact on Opera’s financial prospects, especially with respect to its lending applications’ continued availability on the Google Play Store; and (iv) as a result, the offering documents and defendants’ statements were materially false and/or misleading and failed to state information required to be stated therein.

For more information on the Opera class action go to: https://bespc.com/opra

About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com.  Attorney advertising.  Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. 

Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Melissa Fortunato, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com