Fluor Corporation (FLR) Accused of Improperly Inflating Revenue
According to the complaint for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 between November 2, 2017 and February 14, 2020, Fluor Corporation (FLR) improperly recognize revenue on its projects by routinely submitting “change forms” to its clients requesting additional funds to cover its costs overruns from “unforeseen circumstances” and booking this additional revenue when it determined it was “likely” the client would accept the change order. These tactics to inflate revenue were thwarted on August 1, 2019, when Fluor revealed the Company would be taking a $714 million pre-tax charge on approximately 16 different projects in addition to a $233 million charge on a project Fluor sub-contracted. Then, on February 18, 2020, Fluor revealed that it would not be able to complete and file its Form 10-K on time due to SEC and internal investigations of Fluor’s past accounting and financial reporting. On this news, the stock fell to $14.79 per share, representing an almost 75% decline from its class period high of $58.16 per share.