Ouch.... Smith and Wesson stocks take a 28% dive

[Kyle(Houston)]

http://ir.smith-wesson.com/phoenix.zhtm ... QuoteChart

Not sure why I just heard it on the radio.

What a bad day for them

[casingpoint]

"What a bad day for them"

Everybody and his brother done told 'em to get rid of that infernal lock.

[Kyle(Houston)]

Everybody and his brother done told 'em to get rid of that infernal lock.

[Xander]

Their stock was downgraded by three analyst firms...That's what caused the drop.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/fridays-winn ... 540_2.html

[Xander]

Everybody and his brother done told 'em to get rid of that infernal lock.

And yes, they should.

[lawrnk]

Their stock was downgraded by three analyst firms...That's what caused the drop.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/fridays-winn ... 540_2.html

Maybe the member of this firm fired a sigma for the first time?

[Snake Doctor]

Their stock was downgraded by three analyst firms...That's what caused the drop.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/fridays-winn ... 540_2.html

Maybe the member of this firm fired a sigma for the first time?

Hehehehehehe....

[FightinAggieCHL]

Hey! I like my Sigma!

[jrosto]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (Nasdaq: SWHC), parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 155-year old company in the global business of safety, security, protection and sport, today announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2007.

Net product sales for the quarter ended October 31, 2007 were $70.8
million, an increase of 39.4% over the comparable quarter last year. Gross margin increased to 32.3% for the quarter ended October 31, 2007 as compared to 31.2% for the same period last year.

Does not sound like they are doing to awful bad to me.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation Posts Second Quarter Net Sales and Profits

[Rex B]

Heck, Ruger took a 50% price dump about a month ago. Still have not recovered.

They reported their first losing quarter in a long, long time, and further reported there would probably be a few more quarters before they found some black ink.

[seeker_two]

Their stock was downgraded by three analyst firms...That's what caused the drop.

http://www.thestreet.com/s/fridays-winn ... 540_2.html

Analysts like this are the reason we're paying $3+ a gallon for gas while oil and refinery production are at a surplus and demand is lower than when gas was half this price.....

...God save us from "analysts" and "experts".....

[Lumberjack98]

From The Shooting Wire Newsletter:

Shooting Business Attracts Attention

Forbes' analyst Carl Gutierrez said it all: "Smith & Wesson ate lead Friday."

In October, S&W stock (nasdaq:SWHC) dropped its 2008 forecasts, admitting to the equities markets that their gangbuster numbers for 2007 couldn't be maintained going into 2008. For that announcement, S&W stock took a pounding, dropping from its near-record high to a considerably more modest number. It has been trading in those more moderate ranges since then, dropping back to a level analysts told The Shooting Wire they felt could be "maintained, barring no more bad news."

Thursday, after the market close, Smith & Wesson announced larger second-quarter earning and sales than analysts had expected (good news), but cut the 2008 projections for the second time. The drop to a forecast of 40 cents per share earnings instead of the 52 cents average estimated (expected) by analysts wasn't well received at all.

On Friday, large investors sent Smith & Wesson a message: "We don't like surprises" -sending shares down more than twenty-nine percent to a closing price of $7.08.

Following Wall Street's activities is equivalent of fortune-telling. If your quarterly earnings improve (S&W's did- from $2.85 to $2.9 million), but your forward projections drop, they hammer you. Ditto if sales are up ($71.4 million vs $51.4 million).

Wall Street analysts, not the most forthcoming of souls to outsiders, say they're watching the stock closely to see if the arrival of a late winter does, in fact, send hunters into the field. The company says it has seen long gun sales lagging due to unseasonably warm weather - hurting the hunting market, primarily their sales of Thompson/Center product and their new i-Bolt bolt rifle in the S&W line.

Two of the analysts we spoke with say they're pleased at the reception law-enforcement is giving the M&P product line. Smith & Wesson has won 80% of the law-enforcement evaluation tests in which it has competed, with sales to 264 law enforcement agencies across the country.

But the analysts point to the late deliveries on the iBolt (September) as one reason they're concerned. Cowen & Co. analyst Cai von Rumorh says retailers he's talking with tell him they're overstocked- to the point that one "big box" retailer cancelled an order on the new rifles for that reason.

A little more than a week ago, Smith & Wesson made some cutbacks in personnel, primarily temporary workers, and slowed production. They're not the only manufacturer in the industry to have done that - and others will undoubtedly follow suit - most likely in the first quarter of next year. S&W explains the layoffs as a normal part of their business. The majority of the workers, after all, were temporary workers.

The company may also be guilty of bad judgment when it rolled out - en-masse - a very aggressive menu of sales incentives. In those programs, sales of new products enabled purchasers to get a second gun from S&W's more-established lines for very little additional money. Some retailers told The Shooting Wire the sales incentives were an attempt to bolster softening sales -and appreciated- but the paperwork involved was not something they were welcoming with open arms.

Much of that grumbling is predictable when any new procedure is introduced by any manufacturer. Like gunmakers, firearms retailers are sometimes slow to embrace any change in long-established procedures. "It's always been done this way," is not an unexpected response to any change.

Like Sturm, Ruger & Company, Smith & Wesson is being hammered for events that haven't yet happened. That's one of the high prices you pay for playing in the equities market. Another is the fact that you have to be concerned with quarterly numbers when you probably should be looking far further down the road. Again, that's part of the cost of equities. Most disconcerting may be the realization that publicly-traded firearms manufacturers are doing business in a marketplace where the experts don't mind your making them money, but never miss an opportunity to hammer you philosophically.

As the stock markets open this morning, like always, we'll keep you posted.

--Jim Shepherd

[Shootstir]

"What a bad day for them"

Everybody and his brother done told 'em to get rid of that infernal lock.

I don't know about anyone else, but when they made their deal with the Clinton Administration many years ago, I vowed to never own one of these guns- or any of their products. Many other models and companies have served my purposes and needs through the years.

I don't need to own a product from a company that sells out to the Left wing at the first sign of trouble. My two cents...

[lawrnk]

"What a bad day for them"

Everybody and his brother done told 'em to get rid of that infernal lock.

I don't know about anyone else, but when they made their deal with the Clinton Administration many years ago, I vowed to never own one of these guns- or any of their products. Many other models and companies have served my purposes and needs through the years.

I don't need to own a product from a company that sells out to the Left wing at the first sign of trouble. My two cents...

Good point. I already had 2 reasons not to like S&W. Now I have 3.

[M9FAN]

Hey! I like my Sigma!

+1