SAN DIEGO, May 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of purchasers or acquirers of Malibu Boats, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBUU) (“Malibu Boats” or the “Company”) securities between November 4, 2022 and April 11, 2024, inclusive (the “Class Period”), charging the Company and certain current and former senior executive officers with violations of the federal securities laws. Malibu Boats investors have until June 28, 2024 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the class action lawsuit.

If you purchased Globe Life common stock between November 4, 2022 and April 11, 2024, and suffered substantial losses, and you wish to obtain additional information or serve as lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, you may submit your information and contact us here: https://dicellolevitt.com/securities/malibu-boats/.

You can also contact DiCello Levitt partner Brian O’Mara by calling (888) 287-9005 or at investors@dicellolevitt.com.

No Case Has Been Filed and No Class Has Been Certified. Until a case is filed and a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice.

Case Allegations

Malibu Boats designs, manufactures, and markets recreational powerboats, including performance sport, sterndrive, and outboard boats. The Company purports to be a market leader in the performance sport boat category through its Malibu and Axis boat brands. The Company sells boats via a network of independent dealers, including dealers operating under the common control of Tommy’s Boats (“Tommy’s”).

According to the Malibu Boats lawsuit, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, and failed to disclose the following material adverse facts to investors: (1) that Malibu Boats engaged in an “elaborate scheme to over manufacture and pump nearly $100 million of its highest priced, highest margin, slow moving boat inventory into fifteen . . . Tommy’s dealerships,” (according to a lawsuit Tommy’s filed against Malibu Boats); (2) that, as a result, the Company artificially inflated Malibu Boats’s sales performance, market share, and stock value; (3) that the Company was withholding certain incentives and rebates from its dealers; (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company faced substantial risk of litigation from one of its top dealers, Tommy’s; (5) that the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) departed due to his role in this scheme; and (6) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

On February 20, 2024, before the market opened, Malibu Boats announced that the Company and Defendant Springer had “mutually agreed” that Springer would no longer serve as CEO.

On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $4.33 or 9.1%, to close at $43.15 per share on February 20, 2024, on unusually heavy trading volume, according to the Complaint.

The Malibu Boats lawsuit further alleges that on April 11, 2024, after the market closed, Malibu Boats revealed that Tommy’s had filed a lawsuit against the Company, alleging that the Company “engaged in an elaborate scheme” to “pump nearly $100 million” worth of inventory into Tommy dealerships since late 2022 to “artificially inflate Malibu’s sales performance” enabling the Company to represent that it experienced strong wholesale demand and sales, even as sales to the end user declined. The Tommy’s lawsuit also revealed that, approximately one week prior to the Company announcing the separation with Defendant Springer, certain “Malibu stakeholders” admitted to the principal of Tommy’s dealerships that Malibu Boats was in fact “intentionally pumping Tommy’s full of inventory,” but advised Tommy’s to “hold on” as “Jack [Springer] is not going to last.” The Complaint further alleged the Company withheld payment of incentives from Tommy’s for nearly two years before suddenly cutting ties with Tommy’s.

On this news, the Company’s stock price fell almost 8% to close at $38.48 per share on April 12, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume. The Company’s common stock price continued to fall the next available trading day, an additional 6% to close at $36.14 per share on April 15.

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