NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harwood Feffer LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Coinstar, Inc. ("Coinstar" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:CSTR) from October 28, 2010 through January 13, 2011, inclusive (the "Class Period").
No class has yet been certified in the above action. Class members will be represented by the lead plaintiff and counsel chosen by the lead plaintiff. If you wish to choose counsel to represent you and the Class, you must apply to be appointed lead plaintiff no later than March 25, 2011 and be selected by the court. The lead plaintiff will direct the litigation and participate in important decisions including whether to accept a settlement and how much of a settlement to accept for the Class in the action. The lead plaintiff will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest loss from investment in the Company during the Class Period. You are not required to have sold your shares to seek damages to serve as a Lead Plaintiff. You may contact the Harwood Feffer LLP website ( http://www.hfesq.com ) or Samuel K. Rosen, directly, at srosen@hfesq.com to ask any questions you may have in that regard.
The Complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, Coinstar and certain of its officers made a series of materially false and misleading statements related to the Company's business and operations in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
In particular, the Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Coinstar failed to disclose a series of adverse factors which negatively impacted its business and caused it to report declining financial results, well below the expectations defendants had led the market to believe. These non-disclosures and misleading statements included: (a) declining sales as customers purchased fewer DVDs per purchase, due to poor inventory management and controls; (b) lower sales of more expensive Blu-ray and poor title selection that resulted in lower overall sales; (c) a 28-day delay movie studios imposed on Coinstar which adversely affected the Company; (d) the affect of increased competition from online video streaming providers such as Netflix which adversely impacted the Company more acutely than it disclosed.
On January 13, 2011, when defendants reported preliminary results for the fourth quarter and full year 2010, shareholders first learned that the Company would earn as little as $.65 per share for the quarter on revenues of only $391 million, and never questioning the analysts' consensus estimate of $.84 per share, and revenue of $427 million. These disclosures had an immediate impact on the price of Coinstar stock, which declined almost 30% in the single trading day, or almost $15.50 per share, down to $41.50 from the prior day's close of almost $57.00 per share. Indeed, Paul Davis, the Company's Chief Executive Officer was forced to admit: "We underestimated the impact that the delay would have on demand during the fourth quarter," and "We also expected much better performance from Blu-ray."
Harwood Feffer has been representing individual and institutional investors for many years, serving as lead counsel in numerous cases in federal and state courts. Please visit the Harwood Feffer LLP website ( http://www.hfesq.com ) for more information about the firm.
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If you own Coinstar common stock and suffered a loss in excess of $100,000 during the Class Period and you wish to discuss this matter with us, or have any questions concerning your rights and interests with regard to this matter, please contact:
Robert I. Harwood, Esq.
Samuel K. Rosen, Esq.
Harwood Feffer LLP
488 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Phone Numbers: (877) 935-7400
(212) 935-7400
Email: rharwood@ hfesq.com
srosen@hfesq.com Website:
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