UPDATE: Taser Shares Drop On Downbeat Q4 Earnings

Shares of Taser International Inc. TASR dropped more than 3% in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter. However, the company's revenue exceeded analysts' estimates. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company posted quarterly net income of $5.1 million, or $0.09 per share, versus $5.4 million, or $0.10 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue climbed 17.0% to $46.8 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.11 per share on revenue of $42.41 million. International sales slipped $0.4 million versus the year-ago quarter to $9.9 million in the fourth quarter. TASER Weapons segment revenue climbed 7.7% y/y to $40.5 million in the fourth quarter, while AXON segment revenue jumped 159.4% to $6.4 million. Total AXON and EVIDENCE.com bookings surged 371.6% y/y to $24.6 million in the fourth quarter. Gross margin narrowed to 58.6% from 63.8%. At December 31, 2014, cash, cash equivalents and investments climbed to $90.4 million, versus $63.4 million at December 31, 2013. "We continue to see positive breakthroughs in the adoption of law enforcement cloud technology as evidenced by this quarter's EVIDENCE.com and AXON bookings of $24.6 million, nearly quadrupling last year's fourth quarter results," stated Rick Smith, TASER's CEO. "We continue to win competitive bids with the largest agencies in the world as we are the only scalable end-to-end solution in the market today." Taser shares slipped 3.88% to $26.00 in pre-market trading.