The complaint alleges that defendants made false and/or materially misleading statements that: 1) misrepresented the efficacy of AAP’s strategic pricing initiative and the impact of price reductions; 2) omitted and/or concealed the negative impacts of the pricing initiative; 3) provided investors with an overly optimistic perception of AAP’s operations; and 4) created the false impression that inflation and macroeconomic factors had an insubstantial impact on the Company’s margins. On May 31, 2023, AAP held its quarterly earnings call for 2023 first quarter. During that call, President and CEO Thomas R. Greco (“Greco”) conceded, “our financial results in the first quarter were well below expectations.” Because the Company slashed prices on products, Greco stated “we had less price realization than plans, which put substantially higher pressure on our product margin price.” Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Jeffrey W. Shepherd revealed during the May call that the Company’s strategic pricing program resulted in the Company being “unable to price to cover product costs in the quarter.” The Company consequently revised downward its 2023 guidance to an operating margin of 5% to 5.3% from the previously announced 7.8% to 9.2% margins. Following this news, the Company’s stock price fell by $39.31 per share, from $112.20 per share to $72.89 per share on May 31, 2023.
