Smith & Wesson shares sink after firearm maker reports on 1Q, lowers outlook

Smith & Wesson tumbled more than 12 percent before the opening bell Wednesday after the gunmaker reported a steep decline in quarterly earnings chopped its fiscal 2015 forecast.

After years of surging demand, the industry is now dealing with a glut of products and Benchmark analyst Ronald Bookbinder is not optimistic about a turnaround.

"While management believes that this problem is mainly a (second-quarter) event, and should improve in the back half, we are a bit more concerned," Bookbinder wrote.

Shares of the Springfield, Massachusetts company have fallen 4 percent this month. Shares of rival Sturm, Ruger & Co. have fallen three times that fast over the past 30 days.

Late Tuesday, Smith & Wesson reported that first quarter net income fell to $14.6 million, or 26 cents per share, from $26.5 million, or 40 cents per share. Revenue slumped 23 percent to $131.9 million.

The company now expects fiscal 2015 earnings from continuing operations to range between 89 and 94 cents for fiscal 2015, and revenue of between $530 million and $540 million. That's down from a forecast it made in June for earnings of between $1.30 and $1.40 and revenue ranging between $585 million and $600 million.

Shares of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. fell $1.60 to $11.50 in premarket trading.