For once, it's a good to be a TASER International
First, management said last Thursday that it plans to show off its XREP projectile at a conference in July. It will be the first public demonstration of the device, which is designed to deliver the same incapacitating shock as a TASER pistol but is fired from a shotgun.
Second, on Monday, the company announced that three more product-liability cases had been dismissed.
And third, on Tuesday came the announcement that it had received an order for 1,375 TASER X-26 pistols from a foreign law-enforcement agency. No financial terms were disclosed, but at list prices, the deal would be worth $1.65 million.
There's reason to cheer for all of these developments, though I wouldn't cheer too loudly for the XREP. Even though it offers a potential breakthrough, the technology probably won't contribute much to revenue before 2009.
But this latest order is a momentum-builder. Last month, TASER reported four deals worth at least $2.4 million, the largest of which also came from overseas. Overseas could be where the mother lode lies, especially if European and Asian governments take their cues from Britain and France.
Yet I'm most excited by the dismissals, and not for the reason for you think. I'm impressed by the improvements in disclosure. Quoting from the press release:
... three more wrongful death product liability lawsuits have been voluntarily dismissed. ... TASER International did not pay compensation of any type, other than waiving counterclaims for costs and fees.
That's a far cry from the head-fakes we saw last July and then again in November, and it's nice to see. Perhaps management has finally seen the folly of obscuring these deals? I sure hope so.
Regardless, TASER finally appears to be taking the right steps. It's about time.
We've got related Foolishness on a live wire:
- Would someone please pull out the Stinger?
- Maybe it's time to buy TASER.
- Find out who really won last year's duel over TASER.
TASER is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers pick. Seven stocks in the Rule Breakers portfolio have at least doubled since they were recommended to subscribers. Care to find out which ones they are? Get a month of free access to the service right now. There's no obligation to subscribe.
Fool contributor Tim Beyers, ranked 4,957 out of more than 30,600 rated players in Motley Fool CAPS, is a sucker for growth stocks and a regular contributor to Rule Breakers. Tim didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Tim's portfolio holdings can be found at his Fool profile. His thoughts on growth stocks, Foolishness, and investing in general may be found in his blog. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy is a shock to Wall Street's system.
