Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (SWHC) announced another strong quarterly report late last month. Analysts will debate how long the company can continue on this impressive run; at the moment though, earnings estimates remain well above levels from 1 month ago and shares are up nearly 8% today.
Volume for this Zacks #1 Rank Top Performer is around 1.1 million shares at the moment, which is roughly half of its daily average.
SWHC is 1 of only 2 companies from the Leisure & Recreation Products industry on today’s 224-stock Zacks #1 Rank List. The other company is Johnson Outdoors, Inc. (JOUT), though it doesn’t specialize in firearms.
Estimates Up in 30 Days
Analysts currently anticipate earnings per share of 42 cents for the fiscal year ending April 2010. A month ago, they were expecting 37 cents, marking an advance of 13.5% in that time as all 4 covering analysts revised higher.
Meanwhile, estimates for the fiscal year ending April 2011 are up 6.4% in the past month to 50 cents per share, which is also 19% better than the current fiscal year. The past 30 days have seen 1 of 3 covering analysts revise higher.
For the fiscal quarter ending this month, analysts see 9 cents per share, compared to 5 cents in the year-ago quarter. That guidance is a penny, or 12.5%, higher than a month earlier.
Sales Jump in Fiscal Q4
As mentioned earlier, SWHC announced another strong quarter on Jun 22. For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported that net sales jumped nearly 20% year over year to $99.5 million, compared to 83.1 million. Total firearms sales were up 22.4% to $93.9 million.
Excluding items, earnings per share reached 29 cents, which was 190% better than the consensus. This marked the second straight quarter with a triple digit surprise, and the third straight in which it either met or surpassed expectations.
