Harris v. Ivax Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
182 F.3d 799 (1999)
Ivax Corp. (defendant), a generic drug maker that had been highly profitable in 1995, hit financial trouble in 1996; in a September 1996 press release, Ivax acknowledged that its drug prices had declined but expressed optimism that the lower prices would ultimately boost future revenue. Those predictions did not pan out, and Ivax suffered significant losses; shareholders (plaintiffs) sued alleging the press release was fraudulent, and the district court ruled for Ivax, prompting the shareholders' appeal.
Whether a statement predicting future earnings that combines both factual assertions and forward-looking assumptions should be treated entirely as a forward-looking statement.