Lu

I. BACKGROUND

1 A. Factual Background 2 Defendant Align Technology, Inc. (“Align,” or the “Company”) “designs, manufactures, 3 and sells clear aligners for the treatment of malocclusion, or the misalignment of teeth, under the 4 trademark Invisalign.” CCAC ¶ 1. Owing to a number of patents held by Align, the Company 5 “held a virtual monopoly over the clear aligner market,” at least until those patents began to expire 6 in 2017. Id. ¶¶ 1, 3. However, as Align began to lose its patent protections, analysts began to 7 acknowledge that new market entrants could “pressure [average sale prices].” Id. ¶ 3. 8 Plaintiff’s claims center around those competitive pressures and the representations that 9 Defendants made to investors regarding how competition would impact Align’s business. Plaintiff 10 alleges that, on six separate occasions between April 25, 2018 and September 5, 2018, Defendants 11 made false and misleading statements and/or omissions to investors that downplayed the 12 competition, hid the Company’s price cuts to combat competition, and failed to acknowledge that 13 their strategies were insufficient to mitigate competitive pressures. Id. ¶ 128. For example, 14…