February 12, 2026
Willkie recently secured the dismissal of a securities class action against Generac Holdings, Inc. (Generac), its CEO and its CFO in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The lawsuit stemmed from a nearly 25% single-day drop in the company’s stock price.
On February 3, 2026, Chief Judge Pamela Pepper issued an order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss, and entered judgment dismissing the entire case. The court agreed with Willkie’s clients and found that the lead plaintiff’s amended complaint failed to plead that any of the defendants had made a material misstatement to investors with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth.
Generac, an NYSE-listed Fortune 1000 company, manufactures and sells backup power generation equipment, portable generators, energy storage systems, and other energy products serving the residential, commercial and industrial markets. In early 2020, after “shelter-in-place” orders took effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Generac experienced a significant spike in demand for its home standby generators.
On August 2, 2023, during its quarterly report to investors, Generac reported lower-than-expected sales, explaining that the company was facing a weaker-than-expected demand environment and that this was expected to persist in the second half of the year, thus contributing to Generac’s lower outlook for residential product sales during the remainder of the year. Generac’s stock price fell more than $37 per share that day.
In response, in November 2023, a purported Generac shareholder filed a putative securities class action against Generac, its CEO and its CFO in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. In April 2024, after the court appointed a lead shareholder plaintiff and transferred the case to the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint. The amended complaint challenged a dozen public statements made by Generac’s CEO and CFO, alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5, and sought recovery for a class of Generac shareholders for hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged damages associated with the August 2, 2023 stock price decline. In June 2024, the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint.
After the motion was fully briefed, securities litigation partner Glenn K. Vanzura argued the motion to dismiss during a lengthy hearing before Chief Judge Pepper in early 2025. On February 3, 2026, the court issued its ruling granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss and entered judgment dismissing the entire case.
The Willkie team was led by securities litigation partner Glenn K. Vanzura.
