Ammunition sales fueled by millennials and people of color: Vista Outdoor CEO

Vista Outdoor has added 8M new users into shooting sports and hunting

After a year of people being cooped up at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the itch to participate in outdoor activities is growing.

One company benefiting is Vista Outdoor, which manufactures and markets outdoor sports and recreation products. The company says it is seeing many brands growing 25% or better.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
VSTO VISTA OUTDOOR INC. 32.45 -0.43 -1.31%

One hot sector has been the firearms area, specifically, ammunition.

"We haven't seen these trends before. More millennials, more younger-generation people, more people of color, women are embracing hunter and field to table movements, filling their freezers with fresh meat, embracing safety and and self-resiliency," CEO Chris Metz told Fox Business' Liz Claman. "We welcomed in more than 8 million new users into this sport, which we call shooting sports and hunting."

"It has created this structural shift in who is entering the market and using the product, which is really exciting for us," Metz added.

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Vista has a stable of product names including Remington, Bell Helmets and Camelbak hydration products such as water bottles. 

Shares of Vista Outdoor are up 385% in the past year.

The next step for Vista, according to Metz, is aftermarket consumer types of purchases.

"We don't sell the bicycles, but we sell the accessories, we don't sell the firearms, but we sell the ammunition," he said.

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 In the past year, sales rose almost 30%, but online sales grew almost 60%.