What happened
It's...all but a wrap. After climbing 33% since Monday evening, shares of non-lethal, police-equipment maker Wrap Technologies (WRAP -0.50%) are all but certain to close out this week on a high note as shares rise a further 15.2% in Friday trading (1:45 p.m. EDT).
So what
What's driving Wrap stock up? Positive PR.
Two days ago, Wrap announced that the Seattle Police Department had approved a pilot program for the BolaWrap Remote Restraint device, "a patented, hand-held device that discharges a Kevlar tether to temporarily restrain from a safe distance." Then mid-day yesterday, the company announced that the Mountlake Terrace Police Department -- also in Washington State -- successfully used a BolaWrap device to restrain "a subject in mental crisis walking in the road and in front of vehicles."
"The subject ran toward the freeway overpass," relayed Wrap, "and officers were concerned he intended to jump. An officer pursuing the subject deployed the BolaWrap on the subject's legs, enabling officers to safely take him into custody without injury."
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
This isn't the first time BolaWrap has been used in the real world; Wrap makes a point of highlighting each such occurrence with a press release in near real time! But it is the most recent, and added to the positive news out of Seattle, it appears to have sparked something of a gold rush in Wrap stock, turning what was looking like a 52-week loss in the share price into a 52-week gain.
Before you assume that this rally will continue, however, just remember two things: First, Wrap has never earned a profit. (To the contrary, its losses have been growing for five straight years.) And second, at its present valuation post-rally, Wrap stock costs 69 times its total, annual, unprofitable sales.
That's quite a lot, and Wrap investors' best move here might be to call their investment a wrap, take the profits, and call it a week.
