Pearson plc is a British multinational publishing and education company.

According to the law firm press release, the complaint alleges that during the Class Period, the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations and compliance policies. In particular, the complaint alleges the Company made overly optimistic projections for 2017 and 2018 regarding its U.S. education business when, in reality, students were not likely to purchase the Company’s products when more affordable alternatives were available.

On January 18, 2017, Pearson issued a press release announcing that it no longer expected to achieve its operative profit guidance for 2018 as a result of “[t]he North American higher education courseware market being much weaker than expected” and that Pearson would “rebase” its dividend “from 2017 onwards.” Following this news, shares of Pearson fell approximately 29% on January 18, 2017, from a previous close of $9.99 to a close of $7.13 per share.

An amended Complaint was filed on July 14, 2017. Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the amended Complaint on December 7. On September 16, 2019, the Court issued an Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.