GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP Lionel Z. Glancy Robert V ...Case No. DRAFT CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR...

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CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP Lionel Z. Glancy Robert V. Prongay Casey E. Sadler 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Telephone: (310) 201-9150 Facsimile: (310) 201-9160 LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH Howard G. Smith 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112 Bensalem, PA 19020 Telephone: (215) 638-4847 Facsimile: (215) 638-4867 Attorneys for Plaintiff UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Austin Division PLAINTIFF, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiff, v. SOLARWINDS, INC., KEVIN B. THOMPSON, and JASON REAM, Defendants. Case No. DRAFT CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Transcript of GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP Lionel Z. Glancy Robert V ...Case No. DRAFT CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR...

Page 1: GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP Lionel Z. Glancy Robert V ...Case No. DRAFT CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS JURY TRIAL DEMANDED . CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT

GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP

Lionel Z. Glancy

Robert V. Prongay

Casey E. Sadler

1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100

Los Angeles, CA 90067

Telephone: (310) 201-9150

Facsimile: (310) 201-9160

LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH

Howard G. Smith

3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112

Bensalem, PA 19020

Telephone: (215) 638-4847

Facsimile: (215) 638-4867

Attorneys for Plaintiff

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

Austin Division

PLAINTIFF, Individually and on Behalf of

All Others Similarly Situated,

Plaintiff,

v.

SOLARWINDS, INC., KEVIN B.

THOMPSON, and JASON REAM,

Defendants.

Case No. DRAFT

CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FOR

VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL

SECURITIES LAWS

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

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Plaintiff (“Plaintiff”), by and through his attorneys, alleges the following upon

information and belief, except as to those allegations concerning Plaintiff, which are alleged

upon personal knowledge. Plaintiff’s information and belief is based upon, among other things,

his counsel’s investigation, which includes without limitation: (a) review and analysis of

regulatory filings made by SOLARWINDS, INC. (“SolarWinds” or the “Company”), with the

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”); (b) review and analysis of press

releases and media reports issued by and disseminated by SolarWinds; and (c) review of other

publicly available information concerning SolarWinds.

NATURE OF THE ACTION AND OVERVIEW

1. This is a class action on behalf of purchasers of SolarWinds securities between

October 28, 2014 and July 16, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to pursue remedies

under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).

2. SolarWinds and its subsidiaries design, develop, market, sell and support

enterprise-class information technology (“IT”) infrastructure management software to IT

professionals in organizations of all sizes. The Company’s product offerings range from

individual software tools to more comprehensive software products that solve problems

encountered every day by IT professionals. The Company’s products are purportedly designed

to help enable efficient and effective management of their networks, systems and application

infrastructure.

3. On July 16, 2015, after the market closed, the Company disclosed revenues for

the second quarter of 2014 below analyst expectations and lowered revenue guidance for the next

few quarters. According to the Company, it experienced a slower than expected growth in new

license and subscription sales. The Company attributed the slowdown to the underperformance

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of its online marketing campaign tool, which failed to convert prospective customers and

generate quality “demand capture.”

4. On this news, shares of SolarWinds declined $11.51 per share, over 24%, to close

on July 17, 2015, at $35.54 per share, on heavy volume.

5. Throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading

statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business,

operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements

and/or failed to disclose, among others: (1) that the Company’s demand capture engine was

inadequate; (2) that the Company was experiencing difficulties with conversion rates and

scalability; (3) that, as a result, the Company’s revenue guidance was overstated; and (4) that, as

a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ statements about the Company’s business, operations, and

prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

6. As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous

decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have

suffered significant losses and damages.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

7. The claims asserted herein arise under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange

Act (15 U.S.C. §§78j(b) and 78t(a)) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the SEC (17

C.F.R. § 240.10b-5).

8. This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to 28

U.S.C. §1331 and Section 27 of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. §78aa).

9. Venue is proper in this Judicial District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) and

Section 27 of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. §78aa(c)). Substantial acts in furtherance of the

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alleged fraud or the effects of the fraud have occurred in this Judicial District. Many of the acts

charged herein, including the preparation and dissemination of materially false and/or misleading

information, occurred in substantial part in this Judicial District. Additionally, SolarWinds’s

principal executive offices are located within this Judicial District.

10. In connection with the acts, transactions, and conduct alleged herein, Defendants

directly and indirectly used the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce, including the

United States mail, interstate telephone communications, and the facilities of a national securities

exchange.

PARTIES

11. Plaintiff, as set forth in the accompanying certification, incorporated by reference

herein, purchased SolarWinds common stock during the Class Period, and suffered damages as a

result of the federal securities law violations and false and/or misleading statements and/or

material omissions alleged herein.

12. Defendant SolarWinds is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive

offices located at 3711 S. MoPac Expressway, Building Two, Austin, Texas 78746.

13. Defendant Kevin B. Thompson (“Thompson”) was, at all relevant times, Chief

Executive Officer (“CEO”) and a director of the Company.

14. Defendant Jason Ream (“Ream”) was, at all relevant times, Chief Financial

Officer (“CFO”) of the Company.

15. Defendants Thompson and Ream are collectively referred to hereinafter as the

“Individual Defendants.” The Individual Defendants, because of their positions with the

Company, possessed the power and authority to control the content of SolarWinds’s reports to

the SEC, press releases, and presentations to securities analysts, money and portfolio managers,

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and institutional investors, i.e., the market. Each defendant was provided with copies of the

Company’s reports and press releases alleged herein to be misleading prior to, or shortly after,

their issuance and had the ability and opportunity to prevent their issuance or cause them to be

corrected. Because of their positions and access to material non-public information available to

them, each of these defendants knew that the adverse facts specified herein had not been

disclosed to, and were being concealed from, the public, and that the positive representations

which were being made were then materially false and/or misleading. The Individual

Defendants are liable for the false statements pleaded herein, as those statements were each

“group-published” information, the result of the collective actions of the Individual Defendants.

SUBSTANTIVE ALLEGATIONS

Background

16. SolarWinds and its subsidiaries design, develop, market, sell and support

enterprise-class IT infrastructure management software to IT professionals in organizations of all

sizes. The Company’s product offerings range from individual software tools to more

comprehensive software products that solve problems encountered every day by IT

professionals. The Company’s products are purportedly designed to help enable efficient and

effective management of their networks, systems and application infrastructure.

Materially False and Misleading

Statements Issued During the Class Period

17. The Class Period begins on October 28, 2014. On this day, the Company issued a

press release entitled, “SolarWinds Announces Third Quarter 2014 Results.” Therein, the

Company, in relevant part, stated:

SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT

management software, today reported results for its third quarter ended September

30, 2014.

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Total revenue for the third quarter of $112.9 million, representing 28%

year-over-year growth.

Combined maintenance and subscription revenue for the third quarter of

$70.1 million, representing 31% year-over- year growth in recurring

revenue.

License revenue for the third quarter of $42.8 million, representing 24%

year-over-year growth.

GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.32 and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share of $0.50 for the third quarter.

GAAP operating income of $31.7 million, or a GAAP operating margin of

28%, and non-GAAP operating income of $51.0 million, or a non-GAAP

operating margin of 45% for the third quarter.

Financial Results

SolarWinds reported total revenue for the third quarter of 2014 of $112.9 million,

a 28% increase over total revenue for the third quarter of 2013. Record total

recurring revenue, comprised of subscription revenue of $8.3 million and

maintenance revenue of $61.8 million, reached $70.1 million, increasing by 31%

over the third quarter of 2013, representing 62% of total revenue. License revenue

was $42.8 million for the third quarter of 2014, representing a 24% increase over

license revenue for the third quarter of 2013.

On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were $0.32 for the third quarter of

2014 compared to $0.30 for the third quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share were $0.50 for the third quarter of 2014, compared to $0.41 for

the third quarter of 2013.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $54.3 million for the third quarter

of 2014 compared to $42.0 million for the third quarter of 2013, representing a

year-over-year increase of 29%.

The financial results included in this press release are preliminary and pending

final review by the company and its external auditors. Financial results will not be

final until SolarWinds files its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period.

Information about SolarWinds’ use of these non-GAAP financial measures is

provided below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Recent Business Highlights

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“We are very pleased to report another quarter of strong license and recurring

revenue growth and leverage. Our results in the third quarter reflect broad-based

strength across our product portfolio, including the strongest quarter of growth in

the last three years in our core Network Management product portfolio. We also

had a strong quarter of growth in key areas of our business including North

American commercial and in U.S. Federal,” said Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds’

President and Chief Executive Officer.

“We continue to be excited about the opportunities we see to invest in our

business in an effort to drive continued fast growth while leveraging our high

volume, product- and user-centric business model and the strong skills and

expertise of our team,” added Thompson.

Recent SolarWinds business highlights include:

SolarWinds bolstered its board of directors with the addition of Paul

Cormier, Red Hat’s President, Products and Technologies. Mr. Cormier’s

deep expertise and involvement in how modern IT infrastructure is being

architected coupled with a proven track record in high-transaction,

volume-based software companies will provide SolarWinds with a unique

perspective on how companies are evaluating, selecting, and deploying

new and emerging technologies.

During the quarter, SolarWinds released SolarWinds Network

Performance Monitor 11.0, delivering an application-aware approach to

network management, enabling companies of all sizes to answer the

critical question -- “Is it the network or the application?” In contrast to

pricey and cumbersome appliance-based solutions on the market today,

NPM v11 is affordably priced and utilizes enterprise-class deep packet

inspection technology combined with SolarWinds’ easy-to-use, software-

only approach that provides IT professionals with deep insights into the

impact of network performance on over 1,200 applications.

For the third time in a row both Fortune® and Forbes® Magazines

recognized SolarWinds in the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list and

Best Small Companies in America, respectively. The inclusions are based

on the company’s track record of sustained revenue and earnings per share

growth. The combination of strong revenue growth coupled with strong

profitability continues to reflect SolarWinds’ unique ability to serve IT

professionals at companies of all sizes. Its pioneering business model

consisting of powerful and scalable yet easy-to-use and affordably priced

products coupled with an efficient go-to-market and product development

model has delivered both top-line growth and strong profitability.

For the eighth consecutive year, Software Magazine included SolarWinds

in its Software 500 ranking, listing SolarWinds No. 177 -- its highest rank

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to date. The Software 500 is a revenue-based ranking of the world’s

largest software and services suppliers, targeting medium to large

enterprises, their IT professionals, software developers, and business

managers that are involved in software and services purchasing.

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer, formerly Confio Ignite, was

named a finalist for “Best Database Performance Solution” by Database

Trends and Application Magazine in the 2014 DBTA Readers’ Choice

Awards. This award highlights products that “help optimize performance

by quickly identifying performance problems” with automated capabilities

impacting every aspect of a database’s performance.

“In addition to strong revenue results, we are pleased with our ability to

aggressively invest in our market opportunity while continuing to deliver high

margins,” said Jason Ream, SolarWinds’ Executive Vice President and Chief

Financial Officer. “Looking ahead we plan to continue to invest in the opportunity

to provide technology professionals with powerful yet affordable and easy-to-use

tools that simplify their jobs amid increasingly complex on-premise, Cloud, and

hybrid environments. At the same time, we intend to maintain our high standards

for return on these investments,” added Ream.

Financial Outlook

As of October 28, 2014, SolarWinds is providing its financial outlook for its

fourth quarter and full year of 2014. The financial information below represents

forward-looking non-GAAP financial information, including an estimate of non-

GAAP operating income as a percentage of revenue, and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share, for the fourth quarter of 2014 and for the full year 2014. These

non-GAAP financial measures exclude, among other items mentioned below,

stock-based compensation expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes.

SolarWinds cannot reasonably estimate the expected stock-based compensation

expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes for these future periods as the

amounts depend upon such factors as the future price of SolarWinds’ stock for

purposes of computation. In addition, costs related to non-recurring items and

acquisitions are not costs that SolarWinds can estimate because they are a

function of what non-recurring items and acquisitions, if any, occur and the kind

of costs incurred in connection with any such non-recurring items or acquisitions.

Financial Outlook for the Fourth Quarter of 2014

SolarWinds’ management is increasing its previous outlook for the fourth quarter

and currently expects to achieve the following results for the fourth quarter of

2014:

Total revenue in the range of $116.2 to $118.5 million, or 20% to 22%

growth over the fourth quarter of 2013.

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Non-GAAP operating income representing 40.5% to 41.5% of revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.45 to $0.47.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 77 million.

Financial Outlook for Full Year 2014

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the full year 2014:

Total 2014 revenue in the range of $426.5 to $428.8 million, or 27% to

28% year-over-year growth.

Non-GAAP operating income for the full year representing approximately

42.5% of revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.77 to $1.79.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 76.5

million.

18. On November 4, 2014, the Company filed its Quarterly Report with the SEC on

Form 10-Q for the 2014 fiscal third quarter. The Company’s Form 10-Q was signed by

Defendant Ream, and reaffirmed the Company’s statements previously announced on October

28, 2014.

19. On January 29, 2015, the Company issued a press release entitled, “SolarWinds

Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Results.” Therein, the Company, in relevant part,

stated:

SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT

management software, today reported results for its fourth quarter and full year

ended December 31, 2014.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter reached a record high of $118.4

million, representing 22% year-over-year growth on a reported basis and

24% year-over-year growth on a constant currency basis.

Combined maintenance and subscription revenue for the fourth quarter of

$73.4 million, representing 28% year-over-year growth in recurring

revenue.

License revenue for the fourth quarter of $45.1 million, representing 14%

year-over-year growth.

GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.30 and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share of $0.51 for the fourth quarter.

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GAAP operating income of $30.5 million, or a GAAP operating margin of

26%, and non-GAAP operating income of $52.5 million, or a non-GAAP

operating margin of 44% for the fourth quarter.

Financial Results

SolarWinds reported total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 of $118.4

million, a 22% increase over total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013. Total

recurring revenue, comprised of subscription revenue of $9.3 million and record

maintenance revenue of $64.1 million, reached $73.4 million, increasing by 28%

over the fourth quarter of 2013, representing 62% of total revenue. License

revenue was $45.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, representing a 14%

increase over license revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013.

On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were $0.30 for the fourth quarter of

2014, compared to $0.28 for the fourth quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share were $0.51 for the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to $0.41

for the fourth quarter of 2013.

The financial results included in this press release are preliminary and pending

final review by the company and its external auditors. Financial results will not be

final until SolarWinds files its annual report on Form 10-K for the period.

Information about SolarWinds’ use of these non-GAAP financial measures is

provided below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Recent Business Highlights

“I am pleased to report that we delivered another strong performance in the fourth

quarter, and closed the year in a very good position. Over the course of the year,

we invested heavily in our business and believe that those investments have

translated into strong gains across product lines and the regions in which we

operate,” said Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds’ President and Chief Executive

Officer.

“The team is continuously working to enhance our execution and this will remain

a focus in 2015 -- both as we continue to capitalize on the opportunity in the on-

premise IT Management market and as we expand SolarWinds’ offerings and

model into technology management for the Cloud. We believe that we have

created momentum in the business that will allow us to take advantage of new

opportunities in 2015,” added Thompson.

Recent SolarWinds business highlights include:

SolarWinds acquired Librato, a Cloud-based monitoring company

headquartered in San Francisco. This latest acquisition, on the heels of

SolarWinds’ acquisition of Pingdom in 2014, represents another step in

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the company’s efforts to extend and connect performance management

capabilities from on-premise IT infrastructure to Cloud-based application

environments. The company believes that these two acquisitions represent

significant progress towards executing an overall vision of helping

technology pros manage all things IT in a hybrid world.

The Company’s results in 2014 reflect strength across multiple product

lines, including contributions to year-over-year growth for the Network

Management and Database Management product portfolios. The

SolarWinds MSP team also drove solid performance and delivered record

results. Key regions that experienced robust year-over-year growth versus

2013 include North America commercial, Latin America and EMEA.

In the fourth quarter, SolarWinds released an updated version of

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer (DPA), giving database

administrators valuable insight into the database’s impact on other layers

of the application stack. SolarWinds DPA 9.0 adds storage resource

visibility and correlation, providing database admins with unique insight

into how storage I/O issues contribute to poor response time; and adds

metric baselining and alerting, which enables DBAs to pinpoint the root

cause of performance issues within minutes.

SolarWinds continues to receive honors for its business and product

performance. In the fourth quarter, SolarWinds’ GeekSpeak blog, which

offers IT Professionals deep, technical discussions on a range of IT

management topics, was named one of BizTech’s 50 Must-Read IT blogs

of 2014. Fourth quarter product accolades included a number of awards

across multiple publications for Server & Application Monitor (SAM),

Virtualization Manager (VM), Network Performance Monitor (NPM),

Network Configuration Manager (NCM), User Device Tracker (UDT),

Network Topology Mapper (NTM), Log & Event Manager (LEM) and

SolarWinds N-able’s N-central.

“Through the hard work of the SolarWinds team and the increased investment we

made in our business this year, we exited 2014 well-positioned to capitalize on the

opportunity in IT management,” said Jason Ream, SolarWinds’ Executive Vice

President and Chief Financial Officer. “Despite foreign currency headwinds

which negatively impacted our year-over-year revenue growth, our fourth quarter

revenue growth remained robust and represents record total revenue for

SolarWinds.”

“In addition, though we continued to aggressively invest in our business, the

inherent leverage in our business model was once again reflected in non-GAAP

operating margins well above our outlook. For the coming year, we remain

confident in our ability to drive strong growth despite continued foreign currency

headwinds as we continue to focus on improving our momentum in network and

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systems management while extending our capabilities beyond on-premise IT

management in order to attack the growing opportunity to manage the

performance of applications and IT infrastructure both in the Cloud as well as

across hybrid on-premise/Cloud environments,” added Ream.

Financial Outlook

As of January 29, 2015, SolarWinds is providing its financial outlook for its first

quarter of 2015. The financial information below represents forward-looking non-

GAAP financial information, including an estimate of non-GAAP operating

income as a percentage of revenue and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for

the first quarter of 2015. These non-GAAP financial measures exclude, among

other items mentioned below, stock-based compensation expense and related

employer-paid payroll taxes. SolarWinds cannot reasonably estimate the expected

stock-based compensation expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes for

these future periods as the amounts depend upon such factors as the future price

of SolarWinds’ stock for purposes of computation. In addition, costs related to

non-recurring items and acquisitions are not costs that SolarWinds can estimate

because they are a function of what non-recurring items and acquisitions, if any,

occur and the kind of costs incurred in connection with any such non-recurring

items or acquisitions.

Financial Outlook for the First Quarter of 2015

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the first quarter of 2015:

Total revenue in the range of $116.2 to $118.4 million, or 21% to 23%

growth over the first quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP operating income representing approximately 40% of

revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.43 to $0.46.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 77.8

million.

20. On February 23, 2015, the Company filed its Annual Report with the SEC on

Form 10-K for the 2014 fiscal year. The Company’s Form 10-K was signed by Defendants

Thompson and Ream, and reaffirmed the Company’s statements previously announced on

January 29, 2015.

21. On April 28, 2015, the Company issued a press release entitled, “SolarWinds

Announces First Quarter 2015 Results.” Therein, the Company, in relevant part, stated:

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SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT

management software, today reported results for its first quarter ended March 31,

2015.

Total revenue for the first quarter of $116.8 million, representing 22%

year-over-year growth on a reported basis and 27% year-over-year growth

on a constant currency basis.

Combined maintenance and subscription revenue for the first quarter of

$74.4 million, representing 25% year-over-year growth in recurring

revenue on a reported basis and 31% on a constant currency basis.

License revenue for the first quarter of $42.4 million, representing 17%

year-over-year growth on a reported basis and 19% on a constant currency

basis.

GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.24 and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share of $0.46 for the first quarter.

GAAP operating income of $24.1 million, or a GAAP operating margin of

21%, and non-GAAP operating income of $48.0 million, or a non-GAAP

operating margin of 41% for the first quarter.

Financial Results

SolarWinds reported total revenue for the first quarter of 2015 of $116.8 million,

a 22% increase on a reported basis over total revenue for the first quarter of 2014.

Total revenue on a constant currency basis for the first quarter was $121.4

million, a 27% increase over total revenue for the first quarter of 2014. Record

total recurring revenue, comprised of maintenance revenue of $63.7 million and

subscription revenue of $10.7 million, reached $74.4 million, increasing by 25%

on a reported basis over the first quarter of 2014 and increasing by 31% on a

constant currency basis, and represents 64% of total revenue. License revenue

was $42.4 million for the first quarter of 2015, representing a 17% increase on a

reported basis over license revenue for the first quarter of 2014 and a 19%

increase on a constant currency basis.

On a GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were $0.24 for the first quarter of

2015 compared to $0.23 for the first quarter of 2014. Non-GAAP diluted earnings

per share were $0.46 for the first quarter of 2015, compared to $0.41 for the first

quarter of 2014.

The financial results included in this press release are preliminary and pending

final review by the company and its external auditors. Financial results will not be

final until SolarWinds files its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period.

Information about SolarWinds’ use of these non-GAAP financial measures is

provided below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Recent Business Highlights

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“The first quarter was a solid start to 2015. We drove strong growth in our core

network and systems management products, and in our MSP business, which

contributed to healthy overall new business sales growth. We also continued to

execute on our goal of becoming the IT management vendor of choice for

addressing the complex, connected set of performance problems in today’s

increasingly hybrid IT infrastructures by acquiring a Cloud-based log

management company. We are excited about the numerous opportunities for

growth that we believe lie ahead of us,” said Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds’

President and Chief Executive Officer.

Recent SolarWinds business highlights include:

The company continued to strengthen the new SolarWinds® Cloud brand

through the acquisition of Papertrail, a Cloud-based log management

company, and the launch of a new user interface, Spaces, for the Librato®

Cloud monitoring solution. Papertrail extends the company’s ability to

help IT Pros, DevOps and developers quickly and easily monitor log data

in order to troubleshoot application performance across on-premise, SaaS

and Cloud-based environments like Amazon Web Services (AWS®).

Librato’s user interface Spaces offers cloud developers and operations

teams the ability to create and manipulate interactive dashboards of time

series data and composite metrics for faster collaboration and problem

resolution.

SolarWinds also enhanced their systems management product offerings to

help IT organizations ensure optimal application performance by

monitoring the complete application stack (AppStack) through a single

pane of glass. Specifically, the company introduced the new SolarWinds

Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) and released significant updates to

SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM), SolarWinds

Virtualization Manager and SolarWinds Web Performance Monitor

(WPM), including greater integration with SolarWinds’ Orion®

technology backbone and the new SolarWinds AppStack dashboard.

SolarWinds continues to receive honors for its business and product

performance. In the first quarter, SolarWinds’ Europe, the Middle East

and Africa (EMEA) Headquarters located in Cork, Ireland, was named

Cork Company of the Year and also received the Large Company of the

Year Award as part of the 2015 Cork Company of the Year Awards

sponsored by the Cork Chamber. In addition, the U.K.’s Network

Computing Magazine recognized SolarWinds as a finalist for Company of

the Year. First quarter product accolades included a number of awards

across multiple publications for SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor

(SAM), SolarWinds Virtualization Manager (VM), SolarWinds Network

Performance Monitor (NPM), SolarWinds Network Configuration

Manager (NCM), and SolarWinds Log & Event Manager (LEM).

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“We are pleased with our first quarter revenue growth of 27% on a constant

currency basis. We believe these results illustrate the strength of our hybrid

financial model, highlighted by a growing mix of predictable, recurring revenue,

which grew 31% on a constant currency basis,” said Jason Ream, SolarWinds’

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

“In addition, despite the increased level of investment we have made in our

business and in our hybrid IT management software strategy, the inherent

leverage in our business model was once again reflected in non-GAAP operating

margins that exceeded our outlook for the first quarter,” added Ream.

Financial Outlook

As of April 28, 2015, SolarWinds is providing its financial outlook for its second

quarter of 2015 and full year of 2015. The financial information below represents

forward-looking non-GAAP financial information, including an estimate of non-

GAAP operating income as a percentage of revenue and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share, for the second quarter of 2015 and for the full year 2015.

These non-GAAP financial measures exclude, among other items mentioned

below, stock-based compensation expense and related employer-paid payroll

taxes. SolarWinds cannot reasonably estimate the expected stock-based

compensation expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes for these future

periods as the amounts depend upon such factors as the future price of

SolarWinds’ stock for purposes of computation. In addition, costs related to non-

recurring items and acquisitions are not costs that SolarWinds can estimate

because they are a function of what non-recurring items and acquisitions, if any,

occur and the kind of costs incurred in connection with any such non-recurring

items or acquisitions. To determine projected revenue growth rates on a constant

currency basis for the second quarter and full year 2015, expected revenue from

entities reporting in foreign currencies was translated into U.S. dollars using the

comparable prior year period’s average foreign currency exchange rates.

Financial Outlook for the Second Quarter of 2015

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the second quarter of 2015:

Total revenue on a reported basis in the range of $120.6 to $123.8 million,

or 19% to 22% growth over the second quarter of 2014. Total revenue on

a constant currency basis in the range of $127.0 to $130.0 million, or 25%

to 28% growth over the second quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP operating income representing approximately 40% of

revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.45 to $0.47.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 77.8

million.

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Financial Outlook for Full Year 2015

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the full year 2015:

Total 2015 revenue on a reported basis in the range of $512.0 to $527.0

million, or 19% to 23% year-over-year growth. Total revenue on a

constant currency basis in the range of $530.0 to $544.0 million, or 24% to

27% year-over-year growth.

Non-GAAP operating income for the full year representing 40% to 41% of

revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.92 to $2.04.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 78.3

million.

22. On May 5, 2015, the Company filed its Quarterly Report with the SEC on Form

10-Q for the 2015 fiscal first quarter. The Company’s Form 10-Q was signed by Defendant

Ream, and reaffirmed the Company’s statements previously announced on April 28, 2015.

23. The statements contained in ¶¶__-__ were materially false and/or misleading

when made because defendants failed to disclose or indicate the following: (1) that the

Company’s demand capture engine was inadequate; (2) that the Company was experiencing

difficulties with conversion rates and scalability; (3) that, as a result, the Company’s revenue

guidance was overstated; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ statements about

the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, were false and misleading and/or lacked a

reasonable basis.

Disclosures at the End of the Class Period

24. On July 16, 2015, the Company issued a press release entitled, “SolarWinds

Announces Second Quarter 2015 Results.” Therein, the Company, in relevant part, stated:

SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT

management software, today reported results for its second quarter ended June 30,

2015.

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Financial Results

Total revenue for the second quarter of $119.1 million on a reported basis

and $125.0 million on a constant currency basis, representing 17% year-

over-year growth on a reported basis and 23% year-over-year growth on a

constant currency basis.

Record recurring revenue for the second quarter of $80.5 million on a

reported basis, comprising maintenance revenue of $67.6 million and

subscription revenue of $12.9 million, and $85.3 million on a constant

currency basis, representing 26% year-over-year growth on a reported

basis and 34% year-over-year growth on a constant currency basis, and

representing 68% of total revenue.

License revenue for the second quarter of $38.6 million on a reported

basis and $39.6 million on a constant currency basis, representing 3%

year-over-year growth on a reported basis and 5% year-over-year growth

on a constant currency basis.

GAAP operating income of $27.9 million and GAAP operating margin of

24% for the second quarter of 2015 compared to GAAP operating income

of $18.2 million and GAAP operating margin of 18% for the second

quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP operating income of $51.5 million and non-GAAP operating

margin of 43% for the second quarter of 2015 compared to non-GAAP

operating income of $42.7 million and non-GAAP operating margin of

42% for the second quarter of 2014.

Record cash flow from operations of $54.7 million in the second quarter

of 2015 compared to $51.0 million in the second quarter of 2014.

GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.29 for the second quarter of 2015

compared to $0.18 for the second quarter of 2014 and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share of $0.52 for the second quarter of 2015 compared to

$0.41 for the second quarter of 2014.

Recent Business Highlights

“During the second quarter of 2015 several areas of our business performed well

including our MSP and Cloud businesses, license sales in our US Federal and

Asia-Pacific businesses, our installed base teams’ sales efforts and our customer

retention rates. In addition, we exceeded our margin and profit outlook and

generated record cash flow from operations given the strength of our unique

business model,” said Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds’ President and Chief

Executive Officer.

“As we look ahead to the second half of 2015, we feel confident in our ability to

deliver strong growth given the size of our market opportunity and our strategy to

capitalize on it as we seek to become the IT management vendor of choice for

managing all things IT for IT professionals in all geographies and in companies of

all sizes,” added Thompson.

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Additional highlights include:

The company took important steps to strengthen its ability to reach IT pros

and provide them with the best products to manage all things IT -- from

on-premise to the Cloud -- regardless of where the asset or user sits.

SolarWinds added a new strategic European R&D office in Kraków,

Poland, expanded a dedicated international sales team to better serve

national government IT pros and added Jason Marshall as Senior Vice

President, Chief Marketing Officer.

SolarWinds also delivered important product updates. Among these

enhancements, SolarWinds® Virtualization Manager now provides users

the ability to perform remediation actions for performance issues in

virtualized environments; SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor added

support for five market-leading storage array families; SolarWinds

Network Configuration Manager now automates network vulnerability

detection and security policy enforcement with remediation actions; and

SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer improved the performance

management of business-critical applications whether hosted on premises,

in a virtualized environment or on the Amazon Web Services® Cloud as

well as introduced new integration with SolarWinds’ Orion® technology

backbone, providing a single view of performance, uptime, capacity and

resource utilization across the stack. Additional product updates were

made to SolarWinds Web Help Desk® software and DameWare® Remote

Support.

SolarWinds and its products received recognition from several leading IT

and business publications. SolarWinds systems management family of

products won for overall “Application Performance Monitoring &

Management” in NetworkWorld® Asia’s Information Management

Awards. SC Magazine® honored SolarWinds Network Configuration

Manager with “Best Risk/Policy Management Solution” and “Best SIEM

Solution” for SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. In addition, Database

Trends and Applications included SolarWinds on their DBTA 100 2015

list based on SolarWinds’ database performance management and

optimization capabilities. Forbes® also recently ranked SolarWinds No.

19 on its list of the “Most Innovative Growth Companies.”

“Our focus on delighting our customers resulted in strong customer retention rates

for maintenance and subscription in the quarter,” said Jason Ream, SolarWinds

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “In addition, our highly

efficient business model allowed us to deliver a very strong quarter of earnings

and cash flow in the second quarter,” added Ream.

The financial results included in this press release are preliminary and pending

final review by the company and its external auditors. Financial results will not be

final until SolarWinds files its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period.

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Information about SolarWinds’ use of these non-GAAP financial measures is

provided below under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Financial Outlook

As of July 16, 2015, SolarWinds is providing its financial outlook for its third

quarter of 2015 and full year of 2015. The financial information below represents

forward-looking non-GAAP financial information, including an estimate of non-

GAAP operating income as a percentage of revenue and non-GAAP diluted

earnings per share, for the third quarter of 2015 and for the full year 2015. These

non-GAAP financial measures exclude, among other items mentioned below,

stock-based compensation expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes.

SolarWinds cannot reasonably estimate the expected stock-based compensation

expense and related employer-paid payroll taxes for these future periods as the

amounts depend upon such factors as the future price of SolarWinds’ stock for

purposes of computation. In addition, costs related to non-recurring items and

acquisitions are not costs that SolarWinds can estimate because they are a

function of what non-recurring items and acquisitions, if any, occur and the kind

of costs incurred in connection with any such non-recurring items or acquisitions.

To determine projected revenue growth rates on a constant currency basis for the

third quarter and full year 2015, expected revenue from entities reporting in

foreign currencies was translated into U.S. dollars using the comparable prior year

period’s average foreign currency exchange rates.

Financial Outlook for the Third Quarter of 2015

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the third quarter of 2015:

Total revenue on a reported basis in the range of $130 to $134 million, or

15% to 19% growth over the third quarter of 2014. Total revenue on a

constant currency basis in the range of $135 to $138 million, or 19% to

23% growth over the third quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP operating income representing 41% to 42% of revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.49 to $0.53.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 77.8

million.

Financial Outlook for Full Year 2015

SolarWinds’ management currently expects to achieve the following results for

the full year 2015:

Total 2015 revenue on a reported basis in the range of $502 to $512

million, or 17% to 19% year-over-year growth. Total revenue on a

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constant currency basis in the range of $521 to $530 million, or 22% to

24% year-over-year growth.

Non-GAAP operating income for the full year representing 41.5% to

42.0% of revenue.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.00 to $2.08.

Weighted average outstanding diluted shares of approximately 77.6

million.

25. On this news, shares of SolarWinds declined $11.51 per share, over 24%, to close

on July 17, 2015, at $35.54 per share, on heavy volume.

CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS

23. Plaintiff brings this action as a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 23(a) and (b)(3) on behalf of a class, consisting of all those who purchased

SolarWinds’s securities between October 28, 2014 and July 16, 2015, inclusive (the “Class

Period”) and who were damaged thereby (the “Class”). Excluded from the Class are Defendants,

the officers and directors of the Company, at all relevant times, members of their immediate

families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns and any entity in which

Defendants have or had a controlling interest.

24. The members of the Class are so numerous that joinder of all members is

impracticable. Throughout the Class Period, SolarWinds’s securities were actively traded on the

New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). While the exact number of Class members is

unknown to Plaintiff at this time and can only be ascertained through appropriate discovery,

Plaintiff believes that there are hundreds or thousands of members in the proposed Class.

Millions of SolarWinds shares were traded publicly during the Class Period on the NYSE. As of

May 1, 2015, SolarWinds had 76,388,051 shares of common stock outstanding. Record owners

and other members of the Class may be identified from records maintained by SolarWinds or its

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transfer agent and may be notified of the pendency of this action by mail, using the form of

notice similar to that customarily used in securities class actions.

25. Plaintiff’s claims are typical of the claims of the members of the Class as all

members of the Class are similarly affected by Defendants’ wrongful conduct in violation of

federal law that is complained of herein.

26. Plaintiff will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the members of the

Class and has retained counsel competent and experienced in class and securities litigation.

27. Common questions of law and fact exist as to all members of the Class and

predominate over any questions solely affecting individual members of the Class. Among the

questions of law and fact common to the Class are:

(a) whether the federal securities laws were violated by Defendants’ acts as

alleged herein;

(b) whether statements made by Defendants to the investing public during the

Class Period omitted and/or misrepresented material facts about the business, operations, and

prospects of SolarWinds; and

(c) to what extent the members of the Class have sustained damages and the

proper measure of damages.

28. A class action is superior to all other available methods for the fair and efficient

adjudication of this controversy since joinder of all members is impracticable. Furthermore, as

the damages suffered by individual Class members may be relatively small, the expense and

burden of individual litigation makes it impossible for members of the Class to individually

redress the wrongs done to them. There will be no difficulty in the management of this action as

a class action.

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UNDISCLOSED ADVERSE FACTS

29. The market for SolarWinds’s securities was open, well-developed and efficient at

all relevant times. As a result of these materially false and/or misleading statements, and/or

failures to disclose, SolarWinds’s securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class

Period. Plaintiff and other members of the Class purchased or otherwise acquired SolarWinds’s

securities relying upon the integrity of the market price of the Company’s securities and market

information relating to SolarWinds, and have been damaged thereby.

30. During the Class Period, Defendants materially misled the investing public,

thereby inflating the price of SolarWinds’s securities, by publicly issuing false and/or misleading

statements and/or omitting to disclose material facts necessary to make Defendants’ statements,

as set forth herein, not false and/or misleading. Said statements and omissions were materially

false and/or misleading in that they failed to disclose material adverse information and/or

misrepresented the truth about SolarWinds’s business, operations, and prospects as alleged

herein.

31. At all relevant times, the material misrepresentations and omissions particularized

in this Complaint directly or proximately caused or were a substantial contributing cause of the

damages sustained by Plaintiff and other members of the Class. As described herein, during the

Class Period, Defendants made or caused to be made a series of materially false and/or

misleading statements about SolarWinds’s financial well-being and prospects. These material

misstatements and/or omissions had the cause and effect of creating in the market an

unrealistically positive assessment of the Company and its financial well-being and prospects,

thus causing the Company’s securities to be overvalued and artificially inflated at all relevant

times. Defendants’ materially false and/or misleading statements during the Class Period

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resulted in Plaintiff and other members of the Class purchasing the Company’s securities at

artificially inflated prices, thus causing the damages complained of herein.

LOSS CAUSATION

32. Defendants’ wrongful conduct, as alleged herein, directly and proximately caused

the economic loss suffered by Plaintiff and the Class.

33. During the Class Period, Plaintiff and the Class purchased SolarWinds’s securities

at artificially inflated prices and were damaged thereby. The price of the Company’s securities

significantly declined when the misrepresentations made to the market, and/or the information

alleged herein to have been concealed from the market, and/or the effects thereof, were revealed,

causing investors’ losses.

SCIENTER ALLEGATIONS

34. As alleged herein, Defendants acted with scienter in that Defendants knew that

the public documents and statements issued or disseminated in the name of the Company were

materially false and/or misleading; knew that such statements or documents would be issued or

disseminated to the investing public; and knowingly and substantially participated or acquiesced

in the issuance or dissemination of such statements or documents as primary violations of the

federal securities laws. As set forth elsewhere herein in detail, Defendants, by virtue of their

receipt of information reflecting the true facts regarding SolarWinds, his/her control over, and/or

receipt and/or modification of SolarWinds’s allegedly materially misleading misstatements

and/or their associations with the Company which made them privy to confidential proprietary

information concerning SolarWinds, participated in the fraudulent scheme alleged herein.

APPLICABILITY OF PRESUMPTION OF RELIANCE

(FRAUD-ON-THE-MARKET DOCTRINE)

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35. The market for SolarWinds’s securities was open, well-developed and efficient at

all relevant times. As a result of the materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failures

to disclose, SolarWinds’s securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.

On December 5, 2014, the Company’s stock closed at a Class Period high of $53.32 per share.

Plaintiff and other members of the Class purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s

securities relying upon the integrity of the market price of SolarWinds’s securities and market

information relating to SolarWinds, and have been damaged thereby.

36. During the Class Period, the artificial inflation of SolarWinds’s stock was caused

by the material misrepresentations and/or omissions particularized in this Complaint causing the

damages sustained by Plaintiff and other members of the Class. As described herein, during the

Class Period, Defendants made or caused to be made a series of materially false and/or

misleading statements about SolarWinds’s business, prospects, and operations. These material

misstatements and/or omissions created an unrealistically positive assessment of SolarWinds and

its business, operations, and prospects, thus causing the price of the Company’s securities to be

artificially inflated at all relevant times, and when disclosed, negatively affected the value of the

Company stock. Defendants’ materially false and/or misleading statements during the Class

Period resulted in Plaintiff and other members of the Class purchasing the Company’s securities

at such artificially inflated prices, and each of them has been damaged as a result.

37. At all relevant times, the market for SolarWinds’s securities was an efficient

market for the following reasons, among others:

(a) SolarWinds stock met the requirements for listing, and was listed and

actively traded on the NYSE, a highly efficient and automated market;

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(b) As a regulated issuer, SolarWinds filed periodic public reports with the

SEC and/or the NYSE;

(c) SolarWinds regularly communicated with public investors via established

market communication mechanisms, including through regular dissemination of press releases

on the national circuits of major newswire services and through other wide-ranging public

disclosures, such as communications with the financial press and other similar reporting services;

and/or

(d) SolarWinds was followed by securities analysts employed by brokerage

firms who wrote reports about the Company, and these reports were distributed to the sales force

and certain customers of their respective brokerage firms. Each of these reports was publicly

available and entered the public marketplace.

38. As a result of the foregoing, the market for SolarWinds’s securities promptly

digested current information regarding SolarWinds from all publicly available sources and

reflected such information in SolarWinds’s stock price. Under these circumstances, all

purchasers of SolarWinds’s securities during the Class Period suffered similar injury through

their purchase of SolarWinds’s securities at artificially inflated prices and a presumption of

reliance applies.

NO SAFE HARBOR

39. The statutory safe harbor provided for forward-looking statements under certain

circumstances does not apply to any of the allegedly false statements pleaded in this Complaint.

The statements alleged to be false and misleading herein all relate to then-existing facts and

conditions. In addition, to the extent certain of the statements alleged to be false may be

characterized as forward looking, they were not identified as “forward-looking statements” when

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made and there were no meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that

could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the purportedly forward-looking

statements. In the alternative, to the extent that the statutory safe harbor is determined to apply to

any forward-looking statements pleaded herein, Defendants are liable for those false forward-

looking statements because at the time each of those forward-looking statements was made, the

speaker had actual knowledge that the forward-looking statement was materially false or

misleading, and/or the forward-looking statement was authorized or approved by an executive

officer of SolarWinds who knew that the statement was false when made.

FIRST CLAIM

Violation of Section 10(b) of

The Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5

Promulgated Thereunder Against All Defendants

40. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation contained above as if

fully set forth herein.

41. During the Class Period, Defendants carried out a plan, scheme and course of

conduct which was intended to and, throughout the Class Period, did: (i) deceive the investing

public, including Plaintiff and other Class members, as alleged herein; and (ii) cause Plaintiff and

other members of the Class to purchase SolarWinds’s securities at artificially inflated prices. In

furtherance of this unlawful scheme, plan and course of conduct, defendants, and each of them,

took the actions set forth herein.

42. Defendants (i) employed devices, schemes, and artifices to defraud; (ii) made

untrue statements of material fact and/or omitted to state material facts necessary to make the

statements not misleading; and (iii) engaged in acts, practices, and a course of business which

operated as a fraud and deceit upon the purchasers of the Company’s securities in an effort to

maintain artificially high market prices for SolarWinds’s securities in violation of Section 10(b)

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of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5. All Defendants are sued either as primary participants in

the wrongful and illegal conduct charged herein or as controlling persons as alleged below.

43. Defendants, individually and in concert, directly and indirectly, by the use, means

or instrumentalities of interstate commerce and/or of the mails, engaged and participated in a

continuous course of conduct to conceal adverse material information about SolarWinds’s

financial well-being and prospects, as specified herein.

44. These defendants employed devices, schemes and artifices to defraud, while in

possession of material adverse non-public information and engaged in acts, practices, and a

course of conduct as alleged herein in an effort to assure investors of SolarWinds’s value and

performance and continued substantial growth, which included the making of, or the

participation in the making of, untrue statements of material facts and/or omitting to state

material facts necessary in order to make the statements made about SolarWinds and its business

operations and future prospects in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not

misleading, as set forth more particularly herein, and engaged in transactions, practices and a

course of business which operated as a fraud and deceit upon the purchasers of the Company’s

securities during the Class Period.

45. Each of the Individual Defendants’ primary liability, and controlling person

liability, arises from the following facts: (i) the Individual Defendants were high-level executives

and/or directors at the Company during the Class Period and members of the Company’s

management team or had control thereof; (ii) each of these defendants, by virtue of their

responsibilities and activities as a senior officer and/or director of the Company, was privy to and

participated in the creation, development and reporting of the Company’s internal budgets, plans,

projections and/or reports; (iii) each of these defendants enjoyed significant personal contact and

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familiarity with the other defendants and was advised of, and had access to, other members of the

Company’s management team, internal reports and other data and information about the

Company’s finances, operations, and sales at all relevant times; and (iv) each of these defendants

was aware of the Company’s dissemination of information to the investing public which they

knew and/or recklessly disregarded was materially false and misleading.

46. The defendants had actual knowledge of the misrepresentations and/or omissions

of material facts set forth herein, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth in that they failed

to ascertain and to disclose such facts, even though such facts were available to them, including,

among other things, that certain of the Company’s subsidiaries or business units were engaged in

improper business practices and misrepresented the financial results, performance, and value of

the Company’s business units and equity investments. Such defendants’ material

misrepresentations and/or omissions were done knowingly or recklessly and for the purpose and

effect of concealing SolarWinds’s financial well-being and prospects from the investing public

and supporting the artificially inflated price of its securities. As demonstrated by Defendants’

overstatements and/or misstatements of the Company’s business, operations, financial well-

being, and prospects throughout the Class Period, Defendants, if they did not have actual

knowledge of the misrepresentations and/or omissions alleged, were reckless in failing to obtain

such knowledge by deliberately refraining from taking those steps necessary to discover whether

those statements were false or misleading.

47. As a result of the dissemination of the materially false and/or misleading

information and/or failure to disclose material facts, as set forth above, the market price of

SolarWinds’s securities was artificially inflated during the Class Period. In ignorance of the fact

that market prices of the Company’s securities were artificially inflated, and relying directly or

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indirectly on the false and misleading statements made by Defendants, or upon the integrity of

the market in which the securities trades, and/or in the absence of material adverse information

that was known to or recklessly disregarded by Defendants, but not disclosed in public

statements by Defendants during the Class Period, Plaintiff and the other members of the Class

acquired SolarWinds’s securities during the Class Period at artificially high prices and were

damaged thereby.

48. At the time of said misrepresentations and/or omissions, Plaintiff and other

members of the Class were ignorant of their falsity, and believed them to be true. Had Plaintiff

and the other members of the Class and the marketplace known the truth regarding the problems

that SolarWinds was experiencing, which were not disclosed by Defendants, Plaintiff and other

members of the Class would not have purchased or otherwise acquired their SolarWinds

securities, or, if they had acquired such securities during the Class Period, they would not have

done so at the artificially inflated prices which they paid.

49. By virtue of the foregoing, Defendants have violated Section 10(b) of the

Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.

50. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ wrongful conduct, Plaintiff and

the other members of the Class suffered damages in connection with their respective purchases

and sales of the Company’s securities during the Class Period.

SECOND CLAIM

Violation of Section 20(a) of

The Exchange Act Against the Individual Defendants

51. Plaintiff repeats and realleges each and every allegation contained above as if

fully set forth herein.

52. The Individual Defendants acted as controlling persons of SolarWinds within the

meaning of Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act as alleged herein. By virtue of their high-level

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positions, and their ownership and contractual rights, participation in and/or awareness of the

Company’s operations and/or intimate knowledge of the false financial statements filed by the

Company with the SEC and disseminated to the investing public, the Individual Defendants had

the power to influence and control and did influence and control, directly or indirectly, the

decision-making of the Company, including the content and dissemination of the various

statements which Plaintiff contends are false and misleading. The Individual Defendants were

provided with or had unlimited access to copies of the Company’s reports, press releases, public

filings and other statements alleged by Plaintiff to be misleading prior to and/or shortly after

these statements were issued and had the ability to prevent the issuance of the statements or

cause the statements to be corrected.

53. In particular, each of these Defendants had direct and supervisory involvement in

the day-to-day operations of the Company and, therefore, is presumed to have had the power to

control or influence the particular transactions giving rise to the securities violations as alleged

herein, and exercised the same.

54. As set forth above, SolarWinds and the Individual Defendants each violated

Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 by their acts and/or omissions as alleged in this Complaint. By

virtue of their positions as controlling persons, the Individual Defendants are liable pursuant to

Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ wrongful

conduct, Plaintiff and other members of the Class suffered damages in connection with their

purchases of the Company’s securities during the Class Period.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for relief and judgment, as follows:

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(a) Determining that this action is a proper class action under Rule 23 of the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure;

(b) Awarding compensatory damages in favor of Plaintiff and the other Class

members against all defendants, jointly and severally, for all damages sustained as a result of

Defendants’ wrongdoing, in an amount to be proven at trial, including interest thereon;

(c) Awarding Plaintiff and the Class their reasonable costs and expenses incurred in

this action, including counsel fees and expert fees; and

(d) Such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury.

DATED: GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP

By: _____DRAFT_____________________

Lionel Z. Glancy

Robert V. Prongay

Casey E. Sadler

1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100

Los Angeles, CA 90067

Telephone: (310) 201-9150

Facsimile: (310) 201-9160

LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH Howard G. Smith

3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112

Bensalem, PA 19020

Telephone: (215) 638-4847

Facsimile: (215) 638-4867

Attorneys for Plaintiff