Why TASER International's Shares Popped

By Travis Hoium – Oct 30, 2013 at 12:07PM

NASDAQ: AXON

Axon Enterprise

Market Cap

$23B

Today's Change

(0.28%) $0.85

Current Price

$302.41

Price as of April 24, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Is this meaningful or just another movement?

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of TASER International (AXON 0.28%) jumped 12% today after the company reported better than expected quarterly earnings.

So what: Third quarter sales rose 22% to $35.2 million as net income rose 40% to $5.1 million, or $0.10 per share. Analysts were only expecting $32.6 million in revenue and $0.08 per share in earnings.

Now what: Profit was up in large part because gross margin increased to 62.8% from 58.4% a year ago. This is great news, and momentum should continue -- the company's wearable camera orders are picking up the pace. The stock isn't cheap at 48 times forward earnings, but I think there's a lot of upside as law enforcement agencies adopt the company's products.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.