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

[SC1903A3]

When the stock is down it's time to buy.

[WildBill]

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."
--Jim Shepherd

What a bunch of hooyie. Is that even a word? S&W management should read this forum and they would see what people are buying and why. Many people don't even consider buying a S&W except for a small revolver. And more would buy them if they didn't have the stupid lock.

[frankie_the_yankee]

"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.

That deal is no longer in effect. The Bush administration abrogated it. These days, S&W guns are marketed and distributed just like any other. The lock mechanisms are there to allow for their guns to be sold in all 50 states. (A few states have lock requirements.) Ayoob wrote an article a little while back saying that the problems with the lock mechanism were more "urban legend" than reality.

I'd probably never use the lock anyway.

That said, I only own one Smith at present - a "pre-lock" 686.

Guns are a cyclical business. Smith taking a beating could well represent a buying opportunity.

[Houston1944]

Don't blame the current employees for the sins of the previous (UK) owners. The old owners are gone, the product and good people are still there. The new owners brought out new (and very good) products for us shooters. They are doing some things right so we should give them credit for saving a fine old firearm company.

[Mike1951]

The lock mechanisms are there to allow for their guns to be sold in all 50 states.

That may be true, but did anyone think that a company named Saf-T-Lok, in the business of making locks for handguns, would buy S&W and NOT install their own product in the S&W line?

That said, the malfunctions with the lock appear to be mainly in the scandium frame magnums like the 329PD.

To most of us, they're just an aberration on an otherwise fine gun.

[KBCraig]

While that HUD agreement is no longer in effect, I wish the new owners had openly repudiated it. Even when they had several opportunities to do so, they didn't. Their response reminded me of Bill Clinton's "I already said I apologized!" line. Yeah, he said he apologized, but he never actually did so. Kind of like S&W.

I don't hold it against them too much, though. Just like I don't boycott Ruger because of the late Mr. Bill's ill-advised political shenanigans with the high-cap ban.