The Law Offices of Frank R. Cruz announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of shareholders who purchased or otherwise acquired Avis Budget Group, Inc. (“Avis” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CAR) common stock between February 20, 2025 and April 21, 2026, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Avis Budget Group, Inc. investors have until September 29, 2026 to file a lead plaintiff motion.

What Happened?

The complaint alleges that Defendants Pentwater Capital Management LP (“Pentwater”) and Matthew Halbower (“Halbower”, collectively with Pentwater, “Defendants”), enacted a scheme to manipulate the market for Avis securities by taking advantage of Pentwater’s position as one of Avis’s largest shareholders. Specifically,  Defendants’ purchasing of Avis stock during the Class Period triggered a rapid surge in the Company’s stock price caused by short sellers buying back shares to cut their losses, thereby fueling further price spikes (known as a “short squeeze”) which served to substantially increase the value of Pentwater’s holdings of Avis stock.

Between April 1, 2026 and April 22, 2026, the price of Avis stock climbed from a close of $99.90 per share on March 20, 2026, to  $713.97 per share on April 21, 2026, an increase of over 614%

Then, on April 22, 2026, Avis’s share price plummeted by $270.03 per share, or 37.82%, in a single trading session, to close at $443.94 per share on April 22, 2026. Over the following trading sessions, Avis’s share price only continued its slide, ultimately falling by a total of $531.97 per share from its April 22 closing price, or 74.51%, before closing at $182.005 per share on April 28, 2026.

One day later, on April 29, 2026, the Company held an earnings call, during which Avis CEO Brian Choi told investors that Pentwater had sold 4.3 million shares of Avis stock between April 22 and 23, 2026, for sales proceeds of $1.75 billion.

Subsequently, on June 18, 2026, Avis disclosed in a filing with the SEC that Pentwater had agreed to pay Avis $650 million to settle alleged violations of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, a “short-swing profits” rule that requires owners of more than 10% of a class of publicly traded equity securities to disgorge any profits from trading in the issuer’s equity securities within a period of less than six months.

On June 29, 2026, Avis filed a heavily redacted copy of a complaint, originally filed under seal, against Pentwater, Halbower, and a series of apparently related entities, setting forth Avis’s allegations.

What Is The Lawsuit About?

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that between February 20, 2025 and April 21, 2026, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the Company’s stock was being manipulated through deceptive practices; (2) the Company’s market price was therefore trading above its true value; and (3) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.