Smith & Wesson Quarterly Report

[M4arc]

As I was eyeballing S&W stock I went back and read their last quarterly statement. Here is just a snippet from the report but I think you'll enjoy hearing about how well the M&P is doing in the LE and Military circles:

Now, let me take a minute and talk to you about our accomplishments in the law enforcement channel, where our military and police line of tactical rifles and pistols continues to hit the mark.

Last year's second quarter results contained a particularly large order from the California Highway Patrol. Excluding that single order, law enforcement sales in the second quarter this year were up 28% on a year-over-year basis.

During the quarter, we continued to win sizable agencies, such as the New Mexico State Police, the Charlotte, North Carolina Police; and the Syracuse, New York Police Department. Among law enforcement agencies where the M&P is considered for selection, we're continuing the win T&Es at a win rate of over 80%.

This is happening because we have designed the M&P line of products specifically for law enforcement and military professionals. The number of law enforcement agencies that have purchased, or approved for carry, our M&P pistol has now grown to 264. We will continue to expand on our M&P line at the upcoming SHOT Show, and look forward to sharing some exciting new editions with you, then.

On the federal government front, we continue to closely monitor the landscape for signs of any RFP related to the military's stated desire to shift from a 9 millimeter pistol to a 40-caliber or a 45-caliber pistol, for added stopping power.

Recent information indicates that we will see a new RFI early in calendar 2008, followed by an RFP and evaluation process, later in 2008. We will continue to monitor this situation and respond accordingly, but as we have stated, we intend to vigorously compete for any federal government opportunity that may arrive.

One extremely bright spot in the quarter, was our performance on the international front, with sales growth of 122%. The international market is significant for several reasons; among them, the fact that most of our customers in this channel are military and law enforcement agencies.

In addition to extending the Smith & Wesson brand reach into foreign countries, our international sales results deliver ongoing growth into the professional ranks, a reflection of our overall growth strategy for the future.

We are seeing M&P test evaluations get completed, and business developing most recently in places like Mexico, Canada and Thailand. The M&P pistol is now carried on duty by over 5,000 law enforcement personnel, in 13 countries outside the United States.

[Hawkeye]

Very interesting....

[Sam]

I think their direction and success in the LE and military world started about the time Ernest Langdon joined the company to head that department.

[the1911fan]

for added stopping power. (9,40,45 BS)

^^ Reminds me of the Glock armorers class..."the polygonal rifling squeezing a few more FPS out of the round causing" "greater stopping power" ......sure thing pally must think we are all idiots that believe everything spewed.

[Failure2Stop]

for added stopping power. (9,40,45 BS)

^^ Reminds me of the Glock armorers class..."the polygonal rifling squeezing a few more FPS out of the round causing" "greater stopping power" ......sure thing pally must think we are all idiots that believe everything spewed.

In anything but a .mil context I would agree with you, but since we are constrained to FMJ, this is one of the times that bigger bullets perform markedly better than smaller ones.

230gr FMJ .45 ACP does a good job of dropping people.
M882 9mm FMJ does not.

This is not a 7.62 vs 5.56 thing. The simplicity of wounds caused by FMJ pistol bullets requires the largest diameter bullet possible be placed through important vascular structures.

[k9dpd]

I think their direction and success in the LE and military world started about the time Ernest Langdon joined the company to head that department.

I think it was about the time I bought one and told two friends who then told two friends

[John_Wayne777]

I'm thrilled to death to see a great American company doing well.

[R1pper]

I hate to burst every ones bubble, but I just saw a report on the local news that thier stock just fell because of poor quarterly projections. They site a plant shutdown and high promotional spending. The plant and the shooting sports center is about a 10 min ride from my house so that is why it made a big deal on the local news circuit. Hope fully they will rebound from this all, I agree that it is especially nice to see a local much more than an american manufacturer doing well. I can actually remember years ago when there were talks about Smith having some serious financial issues and the fate of the company was unclear at best.


Here is the link http://wwlp.com/Global/story.asp?s=7464950

[Sam]

I think it was about the time I bought one and told two friends who then told two friends

Uh, I bought my first one in May 2006, before the Outlaw Bros. thought the M&Ps were cool.

[Dport]

I hate to burst every ones bubble, but I just saw a report on the local news that thier stock just fell because of poor quarterly projections. They site a plant shutdown and high promotional spending. The plant and the shooting sports center is about a 10 min ride from my house so that is why it made a big deal on the local news circuit. Hope fully they will rebound from this all, I agree that it is especially nice to see a local much more than an american manufacturer doing well. I can actually remember years ago when there were talks about Smith having some serious financial issues and the fate of the company was unclear at best.


Here is the link http://wwlp.com/Global/story.asp?s=7464950

Heard about this a while back. Supposedly slow rifle sales were to blame, IIRC.