Shareholders of Astec Industries filed this putative class action, alleging that the company and its executives committed securities fraud during a recent expansion. The district court dismissed the complaint, holding that plaintiffs had not met the heightened pleading requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”). Plaintiffs appeal.

Although the pleading requirements for securities-fraud cases are daunting, they are not insurmountable. We conclude that plaintiffs have pleaded plausible claims against Astec’s CEO and the company itself but have abandoned or forfeited their claims against the other individual defendants. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.