| Company: | Hardinge Inc |
| Ticker Symbol: | HDNG |
| Class Period: | Feb-22-07 to Feb-21-08 |
| Date Filed: | Oct-29-08 |
| Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Dec-28-08 |
| Court: | Western District of New York |
| Allegations: | |
The Complaint charges Hardinge and certain of Hardinge's executive officers with violations of federal securities laws. Among other things, plaintiff claims that defendants' material omissions and dissemination of materially false and misleading statements concerning the Company's business, operations and prospects caused Hardinge's stock price to become artificially inflated, inflicting damages on investors. Hardinge is a machine tool manufacturer, which designs and manufactures computer-numerically controlled cutting lathes, machining centers, grinding machines, collets, chucks, indexing fixtures and other industrial products. The Company's brands include Hardinge, Kellenberger, Bridgeport, and Hauser, Tripet, and Tshudin.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that their public statements concerning Hardinge's business, operations and prospects were materially false and misleading. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that defendants' public statements were false and misleading or failed to disclose or indicate the following: (1) that Hardinge's orders and sales were slowing; (2) slowing sales were causing Hardinge's inventory of outdated machinery to grow; (3) that the Company failed to timely record an impairment in the value of its inventory; (4) as a result, the Company's financial results were materially inflated; and (5) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls.
On February 21, 2008, Hardinge shocked investors when it revealed that in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2007, Hardinge experienced a combination of prior period accounting adjustments and the negative impact of operational initiatives to reduce inventory which contributed to an unexpected loss in the fourth quarter of 2007. Hardinge's fourth quarter and full year 2007 earnings reflected a significant and unexpected reduction in the Company's gross margin as a result of: prior period accounting adjustments related to intercompany profits in inventory elimination and accounts payable which were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007; the rebalancing of production volumes in the Company's United States and Taiwan production facilities to address current market demand for certain products and to reduce inventory; higher price discounting related to plans to reduce finished machine inventories and accelerate the phase-out of older product lines, and product and channel mix changes. Moreover, Hardinge announced plans to lower inventory by $20 million and to discount inventory of older product lines, both of which would continue to constrain the Company's margins during the 2008 fiscal year. On this news, Hardinge's shares declined $4.16 per share, or 25.43 percent, to close on February 21, 2008 at $12.20 per share, on unusually heavy trading volume.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than the Lead Plaintiff Deadline shown above, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff through counsel of your choice. You may also choose to remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff must meet certain requirements.
