Pomerantz LLP Appointed Co-Lead Counsel in In re Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. Securities Litigation

On December 15, 2017, Pomerantz LLP was appointed Co-Lead Counsel in a class action lawsuit against Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. ("Blue Apron" or the "Company") and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and docketed under 17-cv-06517, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Blue Apron securities:  (1) pursuant and/or traceable to Blue Apron's false and misleading Registration Statement and Prospectus, issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering on or about June 29, 2017 (the "IPO" or the "Offering"); and/or (2) on the open market between June 29, 2017 and August 9, 2017, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").

Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides meal-kit delivery services. Blue Apron sends weekly boxes of pre-portioned ingredients with instructions for customers to cook meals at home.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:  (i) rather than continue to significantly increase spending on advertising, Blue Apron had already decided to significantly reduce spending on advertising in Q2 2017, which would hurt sales and profit margins in future quarters; (ii) Blue Apron was already experiencing adverse on-time in-full rates, meaning orders were not arriving on time or with all the ingredients needed, which was hurting customer retention; (iii) the Company had encountered delays in Q2 2017 associated with its new factory in Linden, New Jersey, a factory which is expected to eventually account for more than half of the meal kits Blue Apron sells; (iv) existing and already-materialized delays at the Company's new factory in Linden were resulting in additional delays in new product rollouts, which was limiting Blue Apron's ability to gain new customers and retain existing ones; (v) the foregoing delays would hurt the Company's bottom line in the near-term, particularly affecting the important metric of lifetime value per customer (i.e., the net profit Blue Apron makes off a customer); (vi) the Company was unable to fully execute its new product initiatives; (vii) Blue Apron had already decided it would be forced to change its strategic approach to managing the business for the remainder of 2017; and (viii) as a result of the foregoing, Blue Apron's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.   

On August 10, 2017, Blue Apron revealed that it had encountered delays associated with its new factory in Linden, New Jersey, leading to additional delays in new product rollouts, thereby impeding Blue Apron's ability to gain new customers and maintain current customers.

Following this news, Blue Apron's share price fell $1.10, or more than 17%, to close at $5.14 on August 10, 2017, a 50% drop from the IPO price.