Opinion ID: 2982900
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: March 5 Presentation

Text: Williams continued to tout Tempur-Pedic’s successes during the company’s presentation at the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference on March 5, 2012. He told participants: “2011 [was] another great year for the company . . . just a phenomenal year for the company, very pleased with the performance, and we look for that kind of growth opportunity to continue into the long-term in the future.” (R. 91-17, Mar. 5, 2012 Conf. Tr. at 3.) Later he - 14 - Case No. 14-5696 Pension Fund Grp. et al. v. Tempur-Pedic Int’l, Inc. et al. said: “2011 was a record year on every measure of the business. And we are looking for continued growth.” (Id. at 5.) With respect to future growth, he advised, “We continue to see . . . a long runway of opportunity, to continue to improve gross margins in the business.” (Id.) The pension funds contend that Williams misled investors by linking the company’s recent successes to its future prospects. But his statements concerning expected future growth are forward looking and were accompanied by meaningful cautionary language that insulated them from liability. Although the company did not issue a formal warning about forwardlooking statements, Williams began his presentation by saying: “As usual—we may say something today that’s forward-looking, so it’s under the safe harbor provisions.” (Id. at 2.) He described his comments as a “very condensed version” of the Investor Day webcast and referred participants to the full presentation on the company’s website, which warned about industry competition and referred to the more thorough disclosures in the company’s SEC filings.