Ruger reports significant drop in sales

Ruger is still doing way better than it was in 2019....

The first quarter of 2019 the Company reported net sales of $114.0 million
The second quarter of 2022 the Company reported net sales of $140.7 million

2022 Year-to-Date .....Ruger stock is down 14%
The DOW is down 10%
The NASDAQ is down 20%
The S&P 500 is down 13%
Vista Outdoor Inc. is down 37% ....ouch!

 

They can stay in business. If they made it through the "Trump Sump", they can make it through Biden. They just have to lower prices and make by getting little profit on volume sales instead of making maximum profit on high priced low volume sales. If they Can do that until the economy tics up and there is another legitimate AWB scare, they will be alright.

 

Well the Max 9 might and thats not a big deal, I needed it for CC, not the revolvers, them things never drop..

 

I am afraid that they will get even lower. They have not hit the bottom yet.

 

If the economy doesn't get better and Ruger slashes the MSRP, the private market for Ruger relovers will drop.

If I paid Ruger's MSRP during the pandemic, and they decide to drop the MSRP today or next year, no one is going to pay anywhere near what I paid In 2020-2022 for a used gun when they can get it new for around the same price. I will lose money.

 

Not really surprised. Guns and ammo have been selling like hot cakes the last couple years. No reason to think it will not slow down sooner or later. That and the cost of gas and rising prices on everything else. Kind of think that by the end of year if something don't change a lot more will slow.

 

Others may be different, but for a guy like me I don’t buy guns as investments as much as I buy them to shoot. I hate to pay too much for anything, so even if I want one I won’t buy if a gun is outrageously priced.

As for a guy getting a better deal later, good on him!

So, I don’t look at resale as a motivator to buy since I keep them and shoot them so their value diminishes from pretty much day one. (I hope to bequeath them to worthy heirs when I join so many others at the great range in the sky, I guess they can worry about the values )

Stay safe.

 

Ruger didn’t buy Remington, and they saved Marlin from eventual ruin when the latest iteration of Remington goes belly up again.

The correct response would be “Thank you Ruger.”

 

I paid 100 bucks less than msrp for the vaquero. Fifty bucks less than msrp for the Max 9 and 500 for a second hand sp101 in pristine condition.
I think i did good. And i aint selling them
Ruger is keeping the price stable on revolvers by not making too many.
People wait years for a nice vaquero, so did i cuz they're better than smiths. Lol
Plastic fantastics are another story but the shelves are stuffed with smith's and glocks. Not rugers and Rugers been hiring for several months.

 

Ruger didn't raise prices, dealers did.
Rugers wholesale pricing has changed very little over the last two years.

1. Ruger didn't destroy anyone. The parent company of Remington/Marlin/AAC/Bushmaster/DPMS/etc was the Freedom Group, owned by CerebusCapital Management. Cerebus purposely gutted the brands owned by the Freedom Group, putting them into bankruptcy. Remington's demise was 100% their own making. After Sandy Hook, Cerebrus tried for several years to sell off all its firearms businesses to no avail.
2. Ruger didn't grab Remington. The Remington firearm assets were purchased by the Roundhill Group.

 

With a $.47 per share dividend I may have to buy some Ruger stock....

 

I guess people need to buy gas….or food.

 

Ruger is a public company so you can look at their financials, they have $0 long term debt and purchased Marlin in cash.

In my opinion, of the major firearms manufacturers Ruger is the best positioned right now because of how broad their product line is. Even after the past two years of panic buying it seems there is still some untapped demand for things like their single action revolvers and Marlin rifles. On the other hand I wouldn't want to be a company that survives solely on AR15s and polymer 9mms at the moment.

 

high sales volume for a discretionary and an extremely durable item could never be sustainable. the firearms industry always goes through cycles. main thing is for them to stay profitable during the lean years and not overexpand during the glut years. i am happy sales are down this should cause the gun prices to drop.

as the economy slows and inflation bites people more then they stop buying ammo , primers etc.. this should allow prices to come down on those as well. the question is would you have the discretionary income to spend as the prices go down.

 

^^^Best answer so far. I' bet that most other gun manufacturers will experience the same. Those three stimulus checks given to us by both Trump and Biden, gave most Americans over $3000 each. While the intent was to help those who's income was affected by Covid-19, for most it was just a boost to expendable income. Guns were not the only thing flying off the shelves, anything else hobby/outdoors/fun related was flying too. Bicycles, travel trailers, ATVs/UTVs, all became made of unobtanium, and their prices soared too. Now that bonus expendable income is gone. Inflation on other goods has thinned the wallet and folks are now paying higher interest on their credit cards. Most folks have filled their need for self protection and now have other priorities. Like all booms, it was destined to collapse into itself. As others have said, maybe now the rest of us can at least find ammo/reloading components.

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I don't think Ruger did anything wrong - it's the economy.

That said, I don't think I've ever recommended a Ruger product. I can't think of anything they make that's better than a similar priced competitor. I suppose the 10/22 and Mark IV have their fans, but I'm not one of them.

 

I bet if Ruger started marketing more blued steel on wood, sales might pick up a little.
I would probably have a PC9 if they offered it with wood.
The market is over saturated with tacticool.

 

I mean- when a mini-14 costs $1000-1200 are you really surprised?

1.) The past few years were a sales surge, of course it wouldn't last.

2.) Contrary to popular belief, a company doesn't have to be constantly growing to be successful.

 

People who don't know what they should cost and are panic buying I'd guess.

 

Its due to the demand for a semi centerfire that prices them up. Plus people like them. They trust ruger and not everyone likes an AR or AK.

Id pay 600 tops.

 

Perhaps if they rotated revolvers back into their production mix instead of plastic and steel pistols they would see their earnings rise? I get it, the plastic pistols have been good for sales the past 2 years, but there is pent up demand for revolvers (excluding the Wrangler) that isn't being tapped into.

The other issue is it's just too expensive to shoot. With a box of 9mm running at 20+ dollars and 45 ACP at 40+ dollars, it's just to much for people who are being squeezed with inflation. I have had to go back to shooting 22 LR because it has become unaffordable. Thankfully I got into reloading 11 years ago so I actually do have some ammo and the ability to make more, but even that is getting expensive and/or hard to find components. I've significantly cut back on my center-fire shooting while picking up rimfire.

 

Ruger, has always made good quality. Sign of the times. People want to go after the gun company's. It does not seem to matter that a lot of people are dieing by other means, people are being told, guns are the probelem.