S&W: Record Quarter, Record Year

Smith & Wesson announced a record quarter and record year for sales and income.  Here are the highlights:

• For the quarter ending April 30, 2012, S&W’s sales were up almost 28% year over year.
• For the quarter ending April 30, 2012, S&W’s income was $17.8 million.
• For the fiscal year ending April 30, 2012, S&W produced a record number of units, generated a record amount of cash and brought in a record amount of income ($26.4 million).

For anyone who tracks Apple stock, these numbers seem anemic, but for Smith & Wesson, they are very good indeed.

According to a Smith & Wesson press release, these records were driven largely because of the popularity of the M&P line of pistols and rifles.  The M&P continues to nibble away at Glock’s share of the law enforcement market, and more and more consumers are flocking to the guns.  Read a few of the popular gun blogs out there and you’ll see that everyone is drinking to Kool-Aid.

It will be interesting to see if:

1. demand remains high,
2. production matches demand,
3. the Shield increases the brand’s popularity, and
4. if the company continues to expand its presence in the police market.

Note:  I’m not a financial advisor, just a casual observer of the Smith & Wesson company.  Nothing in this article is considered financial advice.  In fact, you are a fool if you take anything I write and make any kind of financial decisions with it.  I do not own any Smith & Wesson stock.  I do, however, own and shoot several of their guns including an M&P 9.