Demand for Smith and Wesson handguns took off during the pandemic.
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Smith & Wesson stock slumped 19% on Friday after the company said the market for guns “has cooled significantly” from the height of the pandemic surge.
“Although the firearms market remains elevated and healthy with new entrants, it has cooled significantly from the height of the pandemic surge and seems to now be following pre-pandemic historical demand patterns,” CEO Mike Smith said in a statement accompanying the company’s third-quarter earnings, disclosed after the close of trading on Thursday.
Shares of Smith & Wesson Brands (ticker: SWBI) fell 19% in premarket trading to $14.50. The stock has declined 9.8% over the last 12 months.
The firearms maker reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $30.5 million, or 65 cents a share, on sales of $177.7 million, down 31% from $257.6 million in the same period a year earlier. After adjusting for discontinued operations, relocation expenses, and other costs, the gun maker reported earnings of 69 cents a share, down from $1.12 last year.
Analysts, on average, expected adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share from sales of $198.3 million, according to FactSet.
Write to Lina Saigol at [email protected]
