Impinj, Inc. (PI) Accused of Misleading Investors Regarding Product Demand

According to the filed complaint against the company's officers and directors for breaches of their fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, and insider selling, throughout the relevant period, Impinj, Inc. (PI) continuously touted the strong demand for its Endpoint ICs and repeatedly stated that customer inventory levels were low. As a result, Impinj reported increased sales and increased customer product adoption. However, Impinj's claims of "accelerated" demand were materially false, as it was actually experiencing long lead times for its products due to production delays, resulting in customers stockpiling inventory to avoid extended lead times. In the second half of 2017, Impinj began reducing its lead time; however, sales were significantly reduced due to customer's previously amassed inventories. Then, on August 2, 2018, Impinj's officers and directors issued a press release stating that Impinj would be delaying the filing of its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2018 and its corresponding results. The press release also revealed that Impinj had received a complaint from a former employee and the Audit Committee of the board had commenced an investigation. On this news, Impinj's stock price fell 13.7%, wiping out $64.55 million in market capitalization.