Sturm, Ruger & Co tumbles as gun demand ebbs

Outdoor Holding

04/08/2022 18:30

** Shares of Sturm, Ruger & Company  RGR.N  down 8.8% at
$60.56 on Thurs after gunmaker's qtrly report misses the mark
    ** RGR falls as low as $59.32, lowest since Nov 2020 and on
track for biggest one-day decline this year
    ** Q2 sales of ~$141 mln (down 30% yr/yr) and adj EPS of
$1.17 below Refinitiv IBES estimates of $156 mln and $1.50,
respectively  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw2sNMCja    
    ** "Consumer demand for firearms has subsided from the
unprecedented levels of the surge that began early in 2020 and
remained for most of 2021...," CEO Christopher Killoy said in
statement
    ** Gross margin decreased from 39% in yr-ago period to 31%,
due to inflationary cost increases in materials, other inputs,
higher shipping costs, and deleveraging from lower sales levels
    ** Shares of peer Smith & Wesson  SWBI.O  also falling,
losing 3.2% on the session
    ** Ammunition seller Vista Outdoor's  VSTO.N  stock down
2.0%, while shares of firearms seller Sportsman's Warehouse
 SPWH.O  off 1.7%; ammunition/munitions supplier Ammo Inc's
 POWW.O  shares drop 1.5%
    ** With move on Thurs, RGR down ~11% YTD

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-332-219-1430))