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, Inc (AXON 2.24%) jumped as much as 10% today after the U.S. Department of Justice said it would start a body camera program.
So what: The DOJ said it plans to spend $20 million on body cameras for police departments in a pilot program that will spend a total of $75 million over the next three years to deploy 50,000 body cameras on law enforcement agents nationwide. This comes a day after TASER reported a 23.7% jump in revenue in the first quarter to $44.8 million and net income that more than doubled to $7.2 million, or $0.13 per share.
Now what: The riots in Baltimore over the past week are just the latest reminder that expanded use of body cameras just makes sense for law enforcement in today's world. As more agencies across the country and the world adopt body cameras and Taser technology, there's a huge opportunity for TASER International to grow. I'm long shares and I see no reason to be less bullish today than I was at the start of this week.
