Smith & Wesson shares climb after positive earnings forecast

Shares of gun maker Smith & Wesson climbed on Wednesday after the company reported on late Tuesday second-quarter earnings that beat expectations.

Despite signs that guns sales were slowing, Chief Executive James Debney said the positive results “reflected the continued successful execution of our growth strategy.”

Wall Street appeared to agree, sending Smith & Wesson shares up as much as 7% to $12.98 on Wednesday morning.

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In the second quarter ended Oct. 31, the Springfield, Mass., company reported a profit of $17 million, or 28 cents a share. That was down from $21.2 million, or 31 cents a share, from the same period a year ago. Sales jumped 2% to $139.3 million.

Smith & Wesson forecasted earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share for the third quarter, with net sales of $140 million to $145 million. That is above current Wall Street estimates of earnings of 27 cents and sales of $137.4 million.

Background checks on possible gun buyers jumped last year but has since dropped after a gun control bill was defeated in Congress.

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