Overview
- A federal class action has been filed against Cogent and several national plaintiff firms are soliciting investors to seek lead-plaintiff status before the September 21, 2026 deadline.
- The complaints say Cogent presented an optical-wavelength “backlog” as a sign of future revenue when most orders were unlikely to convert and many customers delayed accepting provisioned wavelengths.
- Plaintiffs point to a string of company disclosures — repeated backlog reductions, the company’s decision to stop publishing backlog figures, a pause in buybacks, and a 98% cut to the quarterly dividend — as evidence that the backlog story was unreliable.
- The suits also allege a material undisclosed risk tied to CEO David Schaeffer’s pledged Cogent stock, saying forced sales of his shares could further depress the price if the backlog problems became widely known.
- The litigation is at an early procedural stage with competing lead-plaintiff motions expected and no class certified, and outcomes will hinge on discovery into backlog accounting, public statements, and executive conduct.