The New Year has dawned, and TASER International's (Nasdaq: TASR) wasted no time cranking up the ol' PR machine to ring it in.
On New Year's Eve, the company announced the sale of 480 X26 model stunguns to the Jacksonville, Fla., Sheriff's Office. The announcement came just two days after news that South Korea's National Police Agency had bought 550 X26's. On Jan. 5, we also learned that the United Kingdom's Home Secretary received an initial order of 5,000 TASERs. And just yesterday, TASER went the Crazy Eddie route, advertising "discounted TASER Personal Safety devices" available at military Web Mall and Online Web Exchanges." (Get 'em while they're hot, hot, hot!)
If this all seems a bit desperate, well, you can't blame management for wanting to pick up its lagging stock. After all, TASER shares are down nearly 60% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by more than 25 points.
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that gun maker Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC) and larger defense contractors like Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) issue a high amount of press releases on their own new products and contract wins. But there may be more to TASER's Press Release Bingo than meets the eyes.
Paper, paper, everywhere
Thanks to the U.K. order mentioned above, TASER now expects to announce $25 million in revenue when it reports in February.
Interestingly, according to Yahoo! Finance, analysts still expect only $23.8 million from TASER. Thus, the company now seems on track to either "beat" earnings next month, or force an upgrade from analysts between now and then. It seems to me that TASER could be due for a price bump in either event.
Foolish takeaway
Mind you, though, with the stock already trading for a price-to-earnings ratio of 77, I think TASER's overpriced and undeserving of its current valuation, and not worth paying even more for. But my opinion is in the minority here. If momentum investing is your thing, you're better off voting with the majority -- or in this case, voting before the majority realizes what's about to happen.
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