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a day ago
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Amazon.com seeks to end lawsuit claiming rice contaminated by heavy metals
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - urged a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action over its alleged sale of rice tainted by arsenic and other "heavy metals," denying the accusation it fraudulently concealed contamination. In a filing late on Friday in Seattle federal court, Amazon said the presence of heavy metals in rice was a "decades-old, well-known issue" that was easy to discover, and the plaintiffs did not claim there were more metals than regulators allowed. Amazon also said Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields online platforms from liability over content from third parties, such as rice sellers. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment. The lawsuit on May 23 covered 18 types of rice sold through Amazon, including from brands such as Ben's Original and Amazon-owned Whole Foods' 365. Plaintiffs Ashley Wright and Merriman Blum said they would not have bought or would have paid less for their Iberia basmati rice, one of the products, had they known it was contaminated or Amazon never tested it for heavy metals. Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. It has also been associated with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young children. The lawsuit followed a study by the nonprofit Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, which found arsenic in all 145 rice samples purchased nationwide, cadmium in all but one sample, and lead and mercury in more than one-third of tested samples. The case is Wright et al v Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 25-00977. Sign in to access your portfolio
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2 days ago
- Business
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VeriSign falls after Buffett's Berkshire sells $1.23 billion stock
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -VeriSign shares fell on Tuesday after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold nearly one-third of its stake in the internet infrastructure and domain name registry company for $1.23 billion. Berkshire had been VeriSign's largest shareholder before selling 4.3 million shares at $285 each on Monday, a 6.9% discount to Monday's closing price. Shares of VeriSign fell more than 7% in early trading on Tuesday. The sale reduced Berkshire's ownership stake in the Reston, Virginia-based company to 9.6% from 14.2%. Another 515,032 shares may be sold to meet demand. Berkshire's remaining holdings are subject to a 365-day lock-up agreement. VeriSign said the sale was intended to reduce Berkshire's stake to below 10%, a threshold that triggers regulatory obligations. Berkshire did not respond to a request for comment. Buffett's company began investing in VeriSign in 2012, and prior to the sale owned nearly 13.3 million shares worth about $4.07 billion. VeriSign shares had risen more than six-fold since Berkshire began buying. Berkshire's smaller investments in technology companies have often been spearheaded by Buffett's portfolio managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Baird Equity Research analyst Rob Oliver, who rates VeriSign "outperform," wrote that the sale "could drive near-term weakness and questions around Berkshire's ultimate intentions with the stock. We continue to view the story as all about domain growth, which is strong and improving." Berkshire ended March with $347.7 billion of cash, and will update that total when it releases second-quarter results on Saturday. Buffett, 94, has run the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate since 1965. Berkshire also owns close to 200 businesses including the BNSF railroad and Geico car insurance, and stocks such as Apple and American Express. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
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Amazon.com seeks to end lawsuit claiming rice contaminated by heavy metals
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - urged a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action over its alleged sale of rice tainted by arsenic and other "heavy metals," denying the accusation it fraudulently concealed contamination. In a filing late on Friday in Seattle federal court, Amazon said the presence of heavy metals in rice was a "decades-old, well-known issue" that was easy to discover, and the plaintiffs did not claim there were more metals than regulators allowed. Amazon also said Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields online platforms from liability over content from third parties, such as rice sellers. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment. The lawsuit on May 23 covered 18 types of rice sold through Amazon, including from brands such as Ben's Original and Amazon-owned Whole Foods' 365. Plaintiffs Ashley Wright and Merriman Blum said they would not have bought or would have paid less for their Iberia basmati rice, one of the products, had they known it was contaminated or Amazon never tested it for heavy metals. Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. It has also been associated with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young children. The lawsuit followed a study by the nonprofit Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, which found arsenic in all 145 rice samples purchased nationwide, cadmium in all but one sample, and lead and mercury in more than one-third of tested samples. The case is Wright et al v Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 25-00977. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon.com seeks to end lawsuit claiming rice contaminated by heavy metals
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - urged a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action over its alleged sale of rice tainted by arsenic and other "heavy metals," denying the accusation it fraudulently concealed contamination. In a filing late on Friday in Seattle federal court, Amazon said the presence of heavy metals in rice was a "decades-old, well-known issue" that was easy to discover, and the plaintiffs did not claim there were more metals than regulators allowed. Amazon also said Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields online platforms from liability over content from third parties, such as rice sellers. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment. The lawsuit on May 23 covered 18 types of rice sold through Amazon, including from brands such as Ben's Original and Amazon-owned Whole Foods' 365. Plaintiffs Ashley Wright and Merriman Blum said they would not have bought or would have paid less for their Iberia basmati rice, one of the products, had they known it was contaminated or Amazon never tested it for heavy metals. Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. It has also been associated with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young children. The lawsuit followed a study by the nonprofit Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, which found arsenic in all 145 rice samples purchased nationwide, cadmium in all but one sample, and lead and mercury in more than one-third of tested samples. The case is Wright et al v Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 25-00977.
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7 days ago
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Intel beats shareholder lawsuit over $32 billion stock plunge
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Intel of defrauding shareholders by concealing problems in a business where it manufactured chips for outside customers, leading to a $32 billion one-day plunge in its market value. While saying she "understands plaintiffs' frustrations," U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Wednesday that Intel did not wait too long to reveal a $7 billion fiscal 2023 operating loss in its foundry business. Intel's stock price sank 26% last August 2, one day after the chipmaker announced more than 15,000 layoffs and suspended its dividend, hoping to save $10 billion in 2025. The Santa Clara, California-based company created the foundry business in 2021 to serve customers including and Qualcomm, while still making chips and wafers for internal use. In a 21-page decision, Thompson said Intel made clear that foundry results would be "obscured" until 2024, meaning its earlier financial reporting was not false and misleading. Thompson also cited an "overarching policy consideration" that because Intel's public statements suggested a "trial-and-error" approach to the foundry business, the company could have faced risks from reporting preliminary, unaudited data. The judge dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit in March. Wednesday's dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the shareholders cannot sue again. Intel had been accused of inflating its stock price from January 25 to August 1, 2024. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC. and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC. and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683. Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Intel and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests. Intel has struggled to compete with rival chipmakers such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC, and benefit from growth in artificial intelligence. The company lost $18.8 billion in 2024, its first annual loss since 1986. The case is In re Intel Corp Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-02683.
