Five Below Hit With Shareholder Suit Amid Stock Price Slump

Five Below Inc. was sued by a shareholder who alleges the discount retailer misled investors about its financial strength and operations.

The lawsuit comes after Five Below in June reported weaker-than-expected results and cut its sales forecast for the rest of the year. Five Below last month announced the departure of its longtime CEO, Joel Anderson.

Investors allege Five Below had presented rosy sales projections, while hiding from them economic pressures that would interfere with the company’s strategic operations and prevent it from executing successfully.

By July, “investors discovered that FIVE’s financial and operational problems were significantly worse than represented,” ...