PwC Defeats Investor Appeal Over Audits for Bloom Energy IPO (1)

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC isn’t liable for its audit opinion about two Bloom Energy financial statements in connection with the fuel cell maker’s 2018 initial public offering, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday.

PwC’s report was an opinion, and the investors failed to show the accounting firm didn’t sincerely believe the material was correct, Judge N. Randy Smith said for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Securities Act’s registration statement provisions don’t provide for strict liability—liability without intent—for accountants, Smith said.

The investors also didn’t show PwC certified untrue facts or information because Bloom Energy’s own underlying financial statements ...