Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the upcoming May 19, 2026 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the case filed on behalf of investors who purchased Hercules Capital, Inc. (“Hercules Capital” or the “Company”) (NYSE: HTGC) securities between May 1, 2025 and February 27, 2026, inclusive (the “Class Period”).

IF YOU ARE AN INVESTOR WHO SUFFERED A LOSS IN HERCULES CAPITAL, INC. (HTGC), CONTACT THE LAW OFFICES OF HOWARD G. SMITH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT.

Contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss your legal rights by email at howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, by telephone at (215) 638-4847 or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

What Happened?

On February 27, 2026, Hunterbrook Media published a report stating that, “according to a former Hercules analyst who worked on deal sourcing” the Company’s process for deal sourcing essentially amounted to “[g]o[ing] on the website for Google Ventures and just see what they invest in and just copy it.” The report stated, according to a former employee, deal sourcing managers “don’t want anything else,” and essentially just rely on other investors to have done due diligence, instead of doing their own.

The report continued, revealing that, “once Hercules makes the loans, the valuation process itself may warrant scrutiny,” as “[a] former member of Hercules’ finance team described a small, overstretched team with few checks in place.” The report revealed the valuations team “consisted of just four people in a single reporting line responsible for dozens of companies,” with “few checks or cross-team review.”

The report also alleged that Hercules Capital underrepresents its significant software debt exposure in part, by “assign[ing] certain businesses that describe themselves as software companies to categories outside of software.” The report also cast doubt on to the Company’s book value, which marks its software debt “at 100 cents on the dollar” despite “billions worth of [software] debt across the industry falling into distressed territory.”

On this news, Hercules Capital’s stock price fell $1.22, or 7.9%, to close at $14.21 per share on February 27, 2026, on unusually heavy trading volume.

What Is The Lawsuit About?

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, 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: (1) the Company overstated the due diligence with which it conducted its deal sourcing and/or loan origination process; (2) the Company overstated the due diligence with which it conducted its portfolio valuation process; (3) the Company reported misclassified portfolio investments; (4) as a result of the foregoing, the Company overstated and/or misrepresented its portfolio valuations; and (5) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Hercules Capital securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than May 19, 2026 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements.

Contact Us To Participate or Learn More:

If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us:

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith,
3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112,
Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020,
Telephone: (215) 638-4847
Email: howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com,
Visit our website at: www.howardsmithlaw.com.

To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260324735019/en/