What happened
Shares of body camera and taser company Axon Enterprise Inc (AXON 1.27%) jumped as much as 24.3% in trading Wednesday after reporting first-quarter results. The gains showed no signs of giving way at 11:05 a.m. EDT with shares still up 22.1% on the day.
So what
Quarterly revenue jumped 28% to $101.2 million and bookings for software and sensors were a quarterly record of $98 million. Net income nearly tripled to $12.9 million, or $0.24 per share, as operating margin increased 660 basis points to 13.4% in the first quarter.
Axon Enterprise's headquarters building. Image source: Axon Enterprise.
Wall Street's estimates were for just $91.3 million in revenue and earnings of $0.04 per share, so results easily cleared that bar. To add to the good news, management increased revenue growth guidance 200 basis points to 18%-20% and reaffirmed an expected 300 basis point to 400 basis point increase in operating margins for the year.
Details of the VIEVU acquisition from The Safariland Group were also released. Axon paid $4.6 million in cash and $2.5 million in stock for the company with a potential 141,000 shares to be paid contingent on milestones over the next two years, including minimum holster purchases by Safariland.
Now what
It's hard to find flaws in this earnings report and the strategy of selling hardware like tasers and body cameras with software like Evidence.com cloud storage and computer-aided dispatch software is paying off. Total software and sensors backlog now stands at $570 million and ensures years of recurring revenue for Axon Enterprise. Today's bounce is great for investors and I don't see anything but bright days ahead for this company.
