NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Syneos Health, Inc. (“Syneos” or the “Company”) ( SYNH). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.
The investigation concerns whether Syneos and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
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On February 17, 2022, Syneos filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a release on Form 8-K disclosing the Company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full year results for 2021 (the “4Q21 Release”). In direct contradiction to the Company’s prior claim that reimbursable expenses would recover and accelerate in 2022, the 4Q21 Release revealed that the Company’s revenue category would likely never recover to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, Syneos segregated reimbursable expenses from many of its operational metrics, revealing that $3.8 billion of the Company’s Clinical Solutions backlog (36%) was at risk of never being collected and providing an alarmingly low book-to-bill ratio of just 0.34x in the segment when reimbursable expenses were included. Although the Company did not disclose the magnitude of the backlog “adjustment,” some analysts estimated that the Company had eliminated as much as $950 million in prior pass-through revenues.
On this news, Syneos’s stock price fell $4.01 per share, or 4.81%, to close at $79.36 per share on February 17, 2022.
Then, on August 2, 2022, Syneos filed with the SEC a release on Form 8-K announcing its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (the “2Q22 Release”). The 2Q22 Release revealed substantial deterioration in the Company’s business, disclosing that net new business awards within Syneos’s Clinical Solutions segment had declined by roughly 34% including reimbursable expenses and 15% excluding reimbursable expenses, reflecting book-to-bill ratios of 0.94x and 1.29x, respectively. In addition, the 2Q22 Release revealed that Syneos would not achieve even its lowered expectations for reimbursable revenues for the year, causing the Company to slash expected 2022 revenues by $185 million at the midpoint.
On this news, Syneos’s stock price fell $13.94 per share, or 17.61%, to close at $65.20 per share on August 2, 2022.
On September 13, 2022, Syneos filed with the SEC a current report on Form 8- K revealing that the Company expected to announce a book-to bill ratio in its Clinical Solutions segment for the trailing 12 months ending September 30, 2022 in the range of 1.05x to 1.15x, excluding reimbursable expenses. During an industry conference held later that day, Chief Executive Officer Michelle Keefe attributed the lower-than expected book-to-bill ratios to macroeconomic factors and to Syneos’s above-average exposure to SMID clients who were delaying contract awards.
On this news, Syneos’s stock price fell $10.69 per share, or 16.87%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $52.68 per share on September 14, 2022.
Finally, on November 4, 2022, Syneos issued a release disclosing the Company’s financial results for the third quarter of 2022. Syneos revealed that its book-to-bill ratios had fallen below even the reduced figures provided in September 2022. Specifically, Syneos stated that its Clinical Solutions segment had achieved net new business awards of $182 million including reimbursable expenses—a year-over-year decline of 87%—and a book-to-bill ratio of just 0.18x for the quarter, which was just one-tenth of the new business growth expected by some analysts.
On this news, Syneos’s stock price fell $22.11 per share, or 46.25%, to close at $25.70 per share on November 4, 2022.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
