Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. firearms maker, reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates for the first time in four years.
Profit was $1.33 per share in the three months ended in December, compared with $1.00, a year earlier, the company said in a statement Tuesday. That missed the $1.38 average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
The results put an end to 16 quarters of beating analysts adjusted profit estimates. Enthusiasts have been stockpiling guns amid concerns for tighter regulations under a Democratic administration that have so far failed to pass.
Shares fell 5 percent to $65.01 at 5:21 p.m. in New York. They have fallen 6.5 percent this year through the close of trading Tuesday, compared with little change in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
“It’s the overall market weakness,” said Brian Ruttenbur, an analyst with CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, before the results were released. He has a buy rating on the stock. Background checks, which can serve as a general indication for gun sales, have dropped by 50 percent in the last month or so, he said.
The pullback comes after the industry churned out a record number of firearms in 2012, government data released last week showed. Production of firearms among U.S. manufacturers rose 31 percent to 8.57 million units in 2012.
Sturm revenue rose 28 percent in the fourth quarter to $181.9 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $179 million.