AST Research Faces Shareholder Lawsuit

Computer maker AST Research Inc., already facing two lawsuits alleging that it misled investors early this year, was sued again Tuesday by shareholders who said the computer maker duped them about its financial condition this summer.

The latest class action was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by the same law firm that filed one of the lawsuits in March. It came 12 days after the company’s stock price dropped nearly $4.94 a share to $13.06 a share after AST revealed that it expects to post a large loss, instead of the expected profit, for the current quarter.

AST lawyer Robert Vanderet said the latest lawsuit against the Irvine-based technology company “appears to be another knee-jerk abusive securities fraud suit of the kind that are routinely filed after the announcement of adverse financial news.”