Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE: FOUR)

This lawsuit is for anyone who acquired securities in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE: FOUR) from June 5, 2020 through April 18, 2023.

The lawsuit alleges that the Company and certain of its executives violated federal law. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that, throughout the time period mentioned above, the Company misled investors regarding its financial condition. More specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the Company misled investors by telling investors that the Company had proper controls in place to prevent improper accounting but then by misclassifying how the Company was spending cash to make it appear that the Company was more profitable than was actually the case..

On October 21, 2022, Shift4 disclosed that its third quarter 2021, full year 2021, and first and second quarter 2022 financial statements should no longer be relied upon and would need to be restated due to a material weakness in the Company’s financial controls, which had caused it to incorrectly treat “customer acquisition costs” as cash used in investing activities rather than cash used in operating activities. As a result, Shift4 revised its net cash provided by operating activities to $3 million (down from its originally reported $29.2 million), $30.8 million (down from its originally reported $37.1 million), and $70.8 million (down from its originally reported $85 million) for the year ended December 31, 2021, the three months ended March 31, 2022, and the six months ended June 30, 2022, respectively. On this news, the price of the Company’s stock dropped precipitously on unusually heavy trading volume. Then, on April 19, 2023, Blue Orca Capital published a report alleging that Shift4 “engaged in a string of highly questionable and hyperaggressive accounting maneuvers seemingly designed to keep the stock afloat” including “cash flow manipulation” and “inexplicable distributor acquisitions that enabled it to capitalize a major component of COGS.” Blue Orca Capital also alleges that Shift4 engaged in unreported related-party transactions and that the Company’s questionable accounting maneuvers “inflated 2022 gross profit by 13%, Adj. EBITDA by 34%, and operating income by close to 3x.” On this news, the price of the Company’s stock again dropped precipitously on unusually heavy trading volume.

The Law Offices of Howard G. Smith seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members. If you acquired securities in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE: FOUR) from June 5, 2020 through April 18, 2023 you may join the lawsuit by submitting your information online, or you may call the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith and speak to Mr. Smith directly to learn how he can protect your rights.