I was digging into the Lightning eMotors ($ZEV) case and it turns out they’re still accepting late claims for settlement for investors who got caught in the 2021 mess. The short version: Lightning eMotors agreed to a [$13.35M settlement](https://11th.com/cases/lightningemotors-investor-settlement) after investors said the company painted a much stronger picture of its financial prospects than what showed up in the numbers.
The key moment was August 16, 2021. The company reported a Q2 2021 net loss of $0.79 per share, versus just $0.10 in Q2 2020, and then pulled its full-year 2021 guidance right after hyping a big multi-year deal with Forest River.
https://preview.redd.it/uo8me6y3nweg1.png?width=864&format=png&auto=webp&s=22fb757dda393de8ed2989a5483cc7e7b937f641
The next day, $ZEV dropped about 16.9%, and that’s when a lot of investors started to feel like the story they’d been sold during the SPAC phase (GigCapital3 → Lightning eMotors) didn’t line up with reality. The complaint basically says they overstated their ability to scale, their revenue outlook, and the strength of their “Mentor-Investor” strategy around the business combination.
Fast-forward, the federal and Delaware state actions were rolled into a global $13.35M settlement, with an estimated payout of about $1.69 per share for eligible investors, after fees and costs. Even though the original claim deadline was November 11, 2024, they’re now accepting late claims (subject to approval), which is why this is still relevant.
https://preview.redd.it/xjfmquh6nweg1.png?width=874&format=png&auto=webp&s=586d6edabe31482a486f989a59db11f52a04c7de
If you bought GigCapital3/Lightning eMotors securities sometime between May 18, 2020 and August 16, 2021 and rode that drop, you can still submit a form and try to recover part of those losses from the settlement fund.
So if you were in $ZEV during the SPAC hype and the 2021 guidance rug-pull, this might be one of the few ways left to get some cash back.
For anyone here who held through that period: did you stay in after the guidance withdrawal, or bail on the first big red day?