The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of those who acquired StoneCo Ltd. (“StoneCo” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: STNE) securities from March 11, 2021 through November 16, 2021, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Investors have until January 18, 2022 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

StoneCo is a provider of financial technology solutions. StoneCo’s services allow merchants and other vendors to conduct electronic commerce across in-store, online, and mobile channels, primarily in Brazil.

On August 30, 2021, after the market closed, StoneCo announced its second quarter 2021 financial results in a press release, reporting an 8.1% year-over-year decrease in revenue “mainly due to adjustments in credit fair value and significantly lower credit disbursements.” The Company stated that it had “implemented some prudent actions, like temporarily stopping the disbursement of credit and increasing coverage for potential future losses, which impacted [StoneCo’s] reported results for the quarter.” On this news, the Company’s share price declined by $2.96 per share, or approximately 6%, from $49.50 per share to close at $46.54 per share on August 31, 2021.

Then, on October 26, 2021, PAX Global Technology Ltd’s Florida offices were raided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and several other agencies as part of a federal investigation. As a Viceroy Research report on October 27, 2021 pointed out, Stone states that PAX “is no longer [its] sole provider of POS devices, [but the Company is] still substantially dependent on it to manufacture and assemble a substantial amount of [its] POS devices.” Moreover, another company replaced its PAX terminals “because it did not receive satisfactory answers from PAX regarding its POS devices connecting to websites not listed in their supplied documentation.” On this news, the Company’s share price declined by $2.64 per share, or approximately 7.2%, from $36.45 per share to close at $33.81 per share on October 27, 2021.

Then, on November 16, 2021, StoneCo announced that it would “start retesting our original [credit] product, which is short-term loans, between the fourth quarter of ’21 and the first quarter of ’22.” The Company could not provide specific guidance about when credit volumes would return to levels before StoneCo had halted origination of credit. On this news, the Company’s share price declined by $10.96 per share, or 34.6%, from $31.66 per share to close at $20.70 per share on November 17, 2021.

The lawsuit alleges throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that StoneCo was experiencing difficulties in implementing its credit product; (2) that StoneCo faced significant risks via its point-of-sale vendor, PAX Global Technology Ltd.; (3) that, as a result of the foregoing, the Company’s financial results would be adversely impacted; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired StoneCo securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, please contact Thomas W. Elrod of Kirby McInerney LLP at 212-371-6600, by email at investigations@kmllp.com, or by filling out this contact form, to discuss your rights or interests with respect to these matters without any cost to you.

Kirby McInerney LLP is a New York-based plaintiffs’ law firm concentrating in securities, antitrust, whistleblower, and consumer litigation. The firm’s efforts on behalf of shareholders in securities litigation have resulted in recoveries totaling billions of dollars. Additional information about the firm can be found at Kirby McInerney LLP’s website: http://www.kmllp.com.

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