Everyone's favorite story stock has settled down and become just another quiet little squirrel looking for a nut.
There was a time when a 12% revenue fall year over year would have sent shares of TASER International (Nasdaq: TASR) into a death-defying tailspin. Not this time. The brave handful of analysts still following this former market darling had expected slightly worse, and the $0.02 loss per share was also a somewhat positive surprise. When you're dealing with amounts this small, there's not much difference between losing a penny per share as TASER did a year ago and twice the amount this time around.
Had everything worked out the way TASER had planned, there would have been a decent-sized surprise today. Several "large international orders" were pushed back from this quarter to some unspecified future period. No matter. TASER has cut its operations down to size and is perfectly capable of keeping its head above water. Operating cash flow was positive to the tune of $4.2 million, and there's $40.6 million of debt-free cash in the coffers.
The big question for prospective TASER investors is, "Will the breakout ever happen?" While TASER may provide a more harmless product than traditional gun makers such as Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger (NYSE: RGR), those companies at least have a long track record of demand for their products that shows little risk of abating in the future. With TASER, it seems as if there's always another product liability lawsuit waiting to happen. TASER keeps smacking the suits down with impunity, but the legal battles never seem to end. And until that happens, every sale is an uphill battle against public skepticism and liability worries.
Fellow Fool Rich Duprey warns that you shouldn't expect government orders to "prop TASER up" in the near term, but the stock is still approaching greatness with a four-star CAPS rating. If you're bearish on TASER, you're likely to disapprove of voice over Internet protocol provider Vonage Holdings as well, which makes sense -- we're looking at two examples of long-standing promise unfulfilled.
Would you buy TASER today, and how long would you sit on your shares before moving on to greener pastures? Discuss in the comments below.
