NEW YORK, March 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Xponential Fitness, Inc. (“Xponential” or the “Company”) (NYSE: XPOF). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
The class action concerns whether Xponential and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
You have until April 10, 2024, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Xponential securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
On June 26, 2023, short-biased analyst firm Fuzzy Panda published a research report titled “Xponential Fitness (XPOF) – ‘Abusive Franchisor That Is A House Of Cards’” (the “Fuzzy Panda Report”). Among other revelations, the Fuzzy Panda Report alleged that Xponential’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Anthony Geisler has had a long history of misleading investors, including being exposed on camera for using “boiler room” tactics to mislead investors in connection with a prior venture and issuing false claims that Xponential “never closed a store.” The Fuzzy Panda Report disclosed that its examination of 64 Franchise Disclosure Documents (“FDDs”) demonstrated 8 of 10 Xponential brands are losing money monthly and more than 50% of its studios never make a positive financial return. The Fuzzy Panda Report also revealed that more than 100 of Xponential’s franchises were for sale at a price 75% less than their initial cost and that the same-store sales (“SSS”) and average unit volume (“AUV”) the Company reports to investors selectively and misleadingly exclude underperforming stores.
Following publication of the Fuzzy Panda Report, Xponential’s stock price fell $9.39 per share, or more than 39%, to close at $15.72 per share on June 27, 2023.
Although Xponential attempted to deny the allegations in the Fuzzy Panda Report, on December 7, 2023, Bloomberg Businessweek (“Businessweek”) published an exposé on the Company that largely corroborated the Fuzzy Panda Report’s allegations entitled “Club Pilates, Pure Barre Owners Say Xponential Left Them Bankrupt.” The article stated that Businessweek had interviewed dozens of former business partners, employees, and franchisees of the Company who revealed that Xponential misled many franchisees into a “financial nightmare.” The article stated that CEO Geisler “has a track record of combative management, deploying growth-at-all-costs tactics and unleashing aggressive reprisals against anyone who gets in his way.” The article disclosed that these unscrupulous tactics caused “many of the company’s franchisees . . . [to] have either declared bankruptcy or los[e] their retirement savings.”
Following publication of the Businessweek article, Xponential’s stock price fell more than 26% over two trading days on heavy trading volume to close at less than $9 per share on December 11, 2023.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
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CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
dpeyton@pomlaw.com
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
