Gun Stocks Smoking After Smith & Wesson Earnings

Shares of Smith & Wesson

and Sturm, Ruger & Co.

are soaring during Friday's big market rally after Smith & Wesson reported blow-out earnings and very strong guidance on Thursday afternoon. The stock gapped higher on Friday and has continued to surge in intra-day trading. At last check, SWHC was up more than 18% to $8.14. The strong results also triggered a pop in Sturm, Ruger & Co., with that stock last trading up more than 8% on heavy volume. Smith & Wesson reported adjusted net income of $17.8 million or $0.27 per share, versus $4.4 million or $0.07 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. This compared to analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.17. Revenues in the quarter jumped from $101.67 million last year to $129.82 million. This easily exceeded Street estimates of $126.53 million. Looking ahead, Smith & Wesson said that it now expects EPS of $0.16 to $0.19 on sales of $125.0 to $130.0 million in the first-quarter. This is well above current analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.12 on revenues of $112.55 million. For fiscal 2013, Smith & Wesson expects EPS of $0.60 to $0.65 on revenues of $458.0 million to $505.0 million. This compares to Street estimates of $0.50 on revenues of $465.98 million.