Stellantis Beats Investor Suit Over Alleged Channel Stuffing (1)

Stellantis NV and two former executives defeated shareholder allegations the car maker over-sent inventory to US dealers to inflate profit margins.

Most of the challenged statements weren’t actionable for a securities fraud claim because they were mere corporate puffery, forward-looking, or irrelevant to the allegations, Judge Valerie Caproni said. Regardless, the public pension fund leading the proposed class action failed to adequately allege the requisite level of intent or recklessness to defraud by then-CEO Carlos Tavares and then-chief financial officer Natalie Knight.

Even if the inventory structure was unusual and intended to jack up the company’s margins, “all that would ...