WLF Urges Ninth Circuit to Grant Interlocutory Appeal in Flawed Securities Class Action

“Misapplication of Goldman and Comcast threatens to render the Basic presumption irrebuttable in securities class actions.”
—Cory L. Andrews, WLF General Counsel & Vice President of Litigation

Click here for WLF’s brief.

(Washington, DC)—Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to grant NVIDIA’s Rule 23(f) petition for interlocutory appeal of the district court’s class certification order. WLF contends that the lower court misapplied Supreme Court precedent on price impact and damages, creating dangerous uncertainty that invites meritless securities class actions. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) joined WLF on the amicus brief.

The case arises from allegations that NVIDIA executives downplayed the company’s reliance on cryptocurrency mining revenues during 2017 and 2018. Although NVIDIA’s stock soared more than 3,400% due primarily to artificial intelligence growth, plaintiffs claim temporary price drops following 2018 disclosures. The district court certified a multibillion-dollar class despite finding no front-end price impact from the alleged misstatements and repeated corporate disclosures of the relevant facts.

In its amicus brief, WLF and NAM argue that the district court erred by failing to apply Goldman’s “mismatch” analysis between alleged misrepresentations and corrective disclosures and by accepting plaintiffs’ unexecuted promise to develop a class-wide damages methodology later, contrary to Comcast. Without en banc clarification, such rulings invite inconsistent application of the law, inflate settlement pressure on innovative companies, and distort capital markets. Amici urge the Ninth Circuit to grant the petition and restore critical guardrails for class certification in securities cases.