Ballesteros v. Galectin Therapeutics, Inc.

HULL, Circuit Judge:

Appellee-defendant Galectin Therapeutics, Inc. (“Galectin”) is a small biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Norcross, Georgia. On February 26, 2014, Appellant-plaintiff Glynn Hotz purchased 16,000 shares of Galectin common stock at $17.90 per share. On July 25, 2014, news outlets began to report that Galectin had paid promotional firms to write flattering articles about Galectin and to “tout” Galectin’s stock price. On July 28, 2014, Galectin’s stock price crashed. Galectin’s stock lost over half its value, falling from a price of $15.91 per share to $7.10 per share…