What happened
Shares of Axon Enterprise (AXON -0.70%) tumbled 4.5% on Friday to close out trading after having rallied earlier in the week on new contract win news. While there was no specific news today that should have caused the stun gun maker to fall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 200 points for the day even as the S&P 500 eked out a very small gain.
So what
The stock action doesn't really align with the opportunity before it. Even though Axon is encountering tough competition in body cameras, evidence management, and database systems, its premiere conducted energy device (CED) -- or what most people refer to as a stun gun -- continues to see rapid adoption by law enforcement agencies.
Image source: Axon Enterprise.
The Dutch National Police, for example, has agreed to equip its officers with Axon's Taser X2 CEDs, while the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina will be outfitted with Tasers, body cameras, and in-car camera systems. The Mebane Police Department in North Carolina is also equipping its officers with Axon body cameras. These are all new developments just from this week.
Now what
The Dutch law enforcement deal is arguably the biggest because it shows Axon continuing to pursue the international market. In the fourth quarter of 2020 it garnered a $20 million order for Tasers from an international customer, the largest Taser order in the company's history.
Axon's website is also teasing perhaps a new CED, saying it will be taking pre-orders on Jan. 18 for what it is calling the "next generation of self-defense." It has been eying the potential of the consumer market, and says this new arrival is non-lethal, has no bullets, and looks nothing like a gun.
The drop in this former growth stock's price may be the buying opportunity investors were looking for.
