SAN FRANCISCO — Ninth Circuit judges sounded inclined Thursday to reinstate a securities fraud suit against VeriFone Systems Inc. over the company’s 2007 earnings restatement, which had caused its stock price to drop nearly by half in a single day.

Sullivan & Cromwell partner Brendan Cullen, representing VeriFone and its CEO, Doug Bergeron, argued that the SEC investigated the case and didn’t charge anybody with fraud.