Smith & Wesson...a $2.78 stock!

[allenomics]

On the heels of cutting 80 manufacturing jobs, there's more bad news for Smith & Wesson.

Today (10/3) its stock price tumbled to another 52 week low; closing at $2.78. Its high price was $22 in the past year!

S&W has lost the services of its VP of Marketing and reassigned two other company executives. It has a fairly new CFO.

It is facing potential class action suits from shareholders regarding forward looking earnings estimates that did not materialize.

There may be another mild winter in the USA, adversely impacting sales and profits of long guns and accessories. Its purchase of Thompson, IMO has been a disaster.

QUESTION? Will you give S&W your business going forward, and why?

 

[AZAK]

Simply put, when their revolvers do not have a lock on them, then I will consider further support.

And I do realize that they have, at least on their web site, re-introduced the 442 with out the internal lock, just have not seen any around here. I would be happy to purchase one, if I could find one, and help out S&W's stock situation.

 

[Tamara]

Truthfully? I think S&W's long-term business model is as solid as it's been since they lost the LE market to Glock back in the early '90s. They spent the next decade or so wandering in the wilderness without a coherent marketing strategy, but I think that they are really on the mend.

Time for me to buy some stock...

 

[fburgtx]

#1) Quit trying to make shotguns and rifles(except, perhaps, AR15's) with the S&W name on them. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. They've tried this before and the results weren't pretty.

#2) For crying out loud guys, give up on the lock!!! (Or at least the current design) Taurus has a better lock design (On the hammer). Ruger has a better lock design (hidden). Give it up!!

#3) Make a decent .22 semi-auto. Right now you've got a low quality, ugly piece of junk, and then you've got the Model 41 (out of most folks price range). Make something decent in the $300-$350 range.

#4) Airlite .327 (yes, .327) Magnum!

 

[cslinger]

Times are tough and guns are a luxury, at least after the first, as they pretty much last forever with a modicum of care. My guess is if times get really tough gun sales may initially spike then drop to the basement as one really only needs one solid firearm for defense.

I don't know if the lock really matters to the masses. I personally would love to see them offer it as an OPTION or to drop it completely but I don't know if the average one gun buyer really knows, or cares as they are only buying a tool and could care less about the heritage, looks etc. and likely don't know about the possible mechanical implications (no matter how small that chance may be). Now to somebody like me, I hate that damn wart on the side. I would buy a 325 Night Guard in a heartbeat if they made a no lock version.

 

[elza]

I prefer wheel guns and always have. I was one of the great supporters of S&W. They were always my first choice in revolvers. If they get rid of that stupid a$$ed lock I may be again. Until then……………….

 

[Don P]

S&W

Time to buy stock! Shares are going for less than a pack of smokes. At least the stocks won't kill you!

 

[NRA-LIFE-MEMBER]

There are lots of "deals" out there - time to look..

 

[rogertc1]

Heck , Smith and wesson should just sell the rest of it's tooling to Taurus as they had in the past. Get out of the gun business and just sell clothing.

 

[Bogie]

I think they're a bargain. If half the gunnies would put their money where their mouths are, they'd buy up the stock, and turn the outfit around.

 

[Tamara]

If half the gunnies would put their money where their mouths are...

They won't. They love to whine and play the martyr. They're all talk and no action; all hat and no cattle.

 

[orionengnr]

I've owned going on two dozen S&W revolvers (plus two semi-auto pistols). About a half-dozen of them were ILS-equipped.

When "It" happened to an acquaintance (his 360 locked up during dry-firing) I got rid of all the ILS-equipped revolvers. Replaced most, and found an excuse to buy others.

Sure, I will buy more S&W revolvers. Used ones.

Will I buy their stock? If they announced that they were ceasing ILS-equipped revolvers, I'd buy some stock and see if all the ILS-haters would actually buy new S&W revolvers.

As far as me? No, I don't have any lust for any of the new S&Ws, even if they took the ILS out. The old ones have nice blueing, nice wood, pinned barrels and recessed cylinders...that stuff isn't coming back without huge price tags.

 

[alank2]

Hi,

Those lockless 442's are supposed to be made this month. I'll be buying one as soon as one is available.

Thanks,

Alan

 

[BillCA]

+1 - buy stock! Then you at least have some say in how they should run their business. Companies do pay attention to stockholders and if enough are gun enthusiasts, then there is a chance that influence will result in better products. At about $3 a share, go buy what you can easily afford. Hold off buying a used S&W and buy 100 shares.

Their focus, IMHO, should be on their core competency which is the police & civilian firearms market. Their M&P pistol gets mixed reviews and it should be improved. They could increase sales by offering no-lock models of certain models too. Pull the slow-sellers until there is demand and/or produce them periodically to satisfy that market.

S&W needs to do some better market research as to what kinds of limited production guns (i.e. distributor specials) will really sell or become a demand item. They know the lock is disliked by purists, but what is it that people who buy multiple guns want? (I'll start a new thread on this one).

Some of their efforts create interest, like the "retro" Model 1917 ...

But the reason the 1917 was popular for some years was that they were cheap and people modified them into personal carry guns. Might it have sold better in a slightly different configuration? Something like this....

We'll never really know because there doesn't seem to be a concerted effort to do market research and take a chance on making an exciting product.

 

[w_houle]

The grips on those guns look a little "Plasticy", but that could just be the picture. They probably look great in real life. I like the overall look and gives me something to look forward to...

 

[alank2]

Hi,

So how does a company go from $22 down to $2.78? Did it split at all? And, how do they survive? I freely admit I don't know exactly how stocks work, but does this mean S&W is in real trouble?

Thanks,

Alan

 

[allenomics]

No stock splits. Poor overall performance, lack of confidence from Wall Street, poor product mix, low profit margins, etc.

 

[Bogie]

That, and a lot of folks who would otherwise buy a small S&W are instead buying HiPoints...

They do not really make an "entry level" gun. They need to.

I suspect that if they came out with a J-frame, and the only thing polished and nice about it were the working parts, and the rest was parkerized or stainless, and priced it at the "we made it with cad/cam" level, they could gain a lot of that back...

 

[Ruger4570]

Buy all the S&W you like. I lost a bunch of money trying to support them and their stock. I'd have been better off buying their guns than their stocks. I am done with them as far as an investment in their stock portfolio. I would have been better buying Xerox when it was under $4.00 and now it is back to around $15.00.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I haven't given Smith & Wesson my business in March 2000 and I have absolutely no intention of giving them my business until they address some unfinished business that is going to bite them, and us, in the butt.