In re Splunk Inc. Securities Litigation

I. BACKGROUND

17 A. Factual Background 18 Lead Plaintiff brings this federal securities class action against Defendants Splunk Inc. 19 (“Splunk”), Splunk’s Chief Executive Officer Douglas Merritt, and Splunk’s Chief Financial 20 Officer Jason Child under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ECF No. 117 at 21 11. It brings these claims on behalf of all persons who purchased Splunk common stock between 22 May 21, 2020, to December 2, 2020, inclusive (“Class Period”). ECF No. 117-1 ¶ 1(h). 23 The factual and procedural background to this putative class action is more fully described 24 in the Court’s previous orders approving Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary settlement approval. 25 ECF No. 117. In short, the crux of the dispute is whether Splunk’s common stock was artificially 26 inflated because of Defendants’ allegedly false and misleading misstatements and omissions about 27 1 professionals, and whether a subsequent decline in the stock price resulted from the issuance of 2 additional clarifying statements. Id. 3 B. Procedural Background 4 Plaintiffs filed the original class action complaint on December 4, 2020. ECF No. 1. On 5 …