Earnings Call Transcript - AXON Q3 2020

Operator, Operator

Thank you for joining us today on this particularly busy earnings day, especially with the election coming up on Tuesday. We have several key members of our team available: Axon's CEO, Rick Smith; President, Luke Larson; CFO, Jawad Ahsan; Chief Revenue Officer, Josh Isner; and Chief Product Officer, Jeff Kunins. We are also pleased to welcome our special guest, Richard Coleman, VP and GM of the Federal Business. We will start with prepared remarks before moving to a Q&A session with our analysts. I hope you have had a chance to review our shareholder letter available at investor.axon.com, as our comments today will build on that comprehensive information. In case we experience any technical difficulties with Zoom or Internet connectivity, we will make sure to post our prepared remarks on our investor website for your reference. During this call, we will share our business outlook and provide forward-looking statements. Please note that any forward-looking statements made today are in accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect our current predictions and expectations but are not guarantees of future performance, and they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results differing significantly. These risks are outlined in our SEC filings. Now, let's hear from Rick.

Rick Smith, CEO

Thanks Andrea. I know everybody is really busy with earnings season. And you may have a lot of calls to go through. So I thought about how I can best encapsulate the quarter. Over 1,000 people working incredibly hard in the hardest environment I've ever seen. That team deserves that we spike the ball. I couldn't be more proud of what our team accomplished. Now with that, I also know some of you are working from home. We've had the pleasure of meeting some of your kids. We want this to be the conference call that your kids want to join. So at the end, have them join you when you ask questions, and we'll send them some Axon swag for warming up our call. I've got my daughter, Kyle, who's learning about business. Say hi to everybody. So Kyle is going to be attending as well. She will be giving me pointers from the side as we go over our results. So thanks, Kyle. At the end, we're also going to have a little bit of background bingo. You guys enjoyed it last time. So today we're going to play a little game, but we know you're busy. So let's get started; just hang out for the end and have kids join us. I cannot be more proud of what has happened with this company, how we've transformed and scaled in recent years. An idea that really started from a tragedy 27 years ago has led us to put together a platform and solutions that are at the center of today's national conversation around justice, equality, and social reform. Our mission has been clear from day one. It’s a privilege to be solving essential problems for our customers and for our communities. We see our customers working hard to keep communities safe, and we thank them for their dedication. Communities are increasingly demanding not just body cameras but also TASER devices that they see police need options to reduce incidents escalating to legal courts. On the heels of the extensive civil unrest we've seen over the past several months, Axon established a fourth company mission— a pillar centering on racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. Our teams are greatly inspired by this new mission and have joined forces to develop a new company-wide initiative, Sprint for Justice, led by Jeff Kunins, our Chief Product Officer. Our entire engineering team came together in one enormously successful and productive two-week sprint, creating and shipping eight new capabilities in support of Axon's new goal. We have prominently highlighted these in a graphic within our Q3 shareholder letter, which you can access from the front page of our website. Another big call out this quarter is significant traction in federal where bookings were up 400% compared to last year. We're establishing a strong foothold in the early innings here with big wins across new customers and programs. We've been making strategic investments into the U.S. federal market and we view this early success as a game changer. And with that, I'd like to introduce you to the game-changing person behind this, Richard Coleman, our Vice President and General Manager of Federal programs. Richard came to us from General Dynamics, where he started out as a Solutions Architect for Department of Defense Geosynchronous Satellite Programs. He progressed to capture management, where we won multiple $100 million and $1 billion programs, and he finally finished his General Dynamics 18-year career as a Vice President and GM for Law Enforcement Systems. Richard?

Richard Coleman, VP and GM of Federal Programs

Hi. Thanks, Rick. I really appreciate it. Now, I am thrilled to join you all for today’s call. This quarter marks my second year here at Axon, and I've never been more bullish on the opportunity we have in front of us in the federal market. Q3 2020 marks a historic moment for Axon as we've achieved a record $38 million in bookings, up 400% year-over-year. Our success includes a number of new programs and contracts, many of which are first for Axon. I'll walk through five of these quickly to provide some color, but these are also included in the shareholder letter as well. First, we established our first two programs of record with the federal government, including a $13 million U.S. Customs and Border Protection order for body cameras and digital evidence management. This is significant because Customs and Border Protection is the largest law enforcement agency within the U.S., and if you're not familiar with the program of record, it's a key milestone that specifies an appropriations line in the U.S. discretionary budget. Second, we signed our first indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity or IDIQ contract with a federal agency directly. To be successful in the federal market and federal space, it's essential to establish contacts and contracts to get our solutions funded. An IDIQ is a contract vehicle that does just that for us, and it gives the agency an established way to procure our solutions through an established vehicle. Third, we signed our first Officer Safety Plan for the federal agency. A lot of you are familiar with our OSP plans. It's a bundle that includes TASER 7, Axon Body 3, and all the software that goes along with it. We're excited to take this popular bundle and introduce it to the federal law enforcement market as well. Fourth, we sold body cams and cloud-based digital evidence management for our first Department of Defense customers, and we think there's much, much more opportunity to unlock in the DoD starting with military police and security forces across the department. Lastly, we signed our largest TASER contract in company history, valued at $15.5 million with the Department of Homeland Security. Now, with all these achievements, there's one thing that really excites me most about the Federal, and it is that Axon is already an established tech company known for its innovation. We can leverage our innovation, our tech pedigree, along with our top-notch products to fill real federal requirements immediately. And we can do this while still innovating like the tech company we are, driving the industry as well as the federal market forward. Again, I want to thank you all for your time today on this call. I'm both humbled and honored to have the opportunity to lead Axon Federal into the federal market, protecting life, capturing truth, and accelerating justice for federal defense and civilian agencies and all the communities based there. So with that, back to Rick.

Rick Smith, CEO

Awesome. Thank you, Richard. It's been a real pleasure having you on our team, and your impact has been remarkable as demonstrated this past quarter. I want to conclude my segment by thanking our employees. Look, we're all going a little stir crazy working from home in this wild turbulent 2020. I think about the mental toughness and commitment that people have summoned this year to work through it and deliver the kind of results this team is delivering. It's not lost on me that we are in a fortunate position despite the fact that we're in the midst of a global pandemic. We've been blessed that we have superior talent across the organization, we have mission-critical products, and we're finding new and increasing pathways to growth and a powerful financial model. And with that, I want to turn it over to our President, Luke Larson.

Luke Larson, President

Thanks, Rick. There are so many great things to discuss, from Axon Accelerate, our user conference, to our strong early success in the U.S. federal market that Richard mentioned, to the robust demand for our software services and our Officer Safety Plan subscription, along with the impressive adoption we're experiencing. We covered a lot in our shareholder letter, so to avoid being repetitive, I want to highlight two successes from this quarter. First, TASER. We're evolving from just selling TASER devices to offering a subscription-based de-escalation platform that includes cloud software and training. This is evident in the rising percentage of TASER devices sold on a subscription, which reached a record 75% this quarter, reflecting a surge in demand for TASER in the U.S. Although subscription levels internationally are lower than in the U.S., we are confident we can grow subscriptions abroad as well. Second, we launched Axon Respond, a significant advancement in police communications technology. We're enhancing real-time situational awareness beyond the radio. Over the past two years, we've invested more than 1,000 hours analyzing issues with 911 operations to develop an effective solution. Instead of describing it, we're going to show the video we presented at Axon Accelerate. Most of the technology showcased in the video is already on the market, with a few exceptions like fleet three with license plate reading, which we plan to launch by mid-next year. Doug, can you play the video? Awesome. Lastly, I want to recognize all our employees who contributed to these record results. With that, I’ll hand it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Jawad.

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Thanks, Luke. I'm also very proud of our employees for putting up another quarter of solid execution, which drove outperformance across most of our metrics. Earlier this year, we shared our plans to invest in our channel product and support infrastructure as we look to scale the business to $1 billion in revenue and beyond. These investments yielded results ahead of our expectations, as evidenced by our strong outlook for 2020. We intend to continue these types of investments in 2021. Two areas in particular highlight how we think about calibrating our investments for growth in a dual-track near and long strategy. With certain channel investments such as federal and international, we can start to unlock revenue relatively quickly in the near term. Meanwhile, with other investments, particularly in our software product categories such as records and dispatch, we're bringing new products to market that will disrupt legacy incumbent providers over the long term. This combination of right-sized investments ensures growth over the near and long term, and with growing diversification the particular product or channel that drives this growth will look different from quarter to quarter. Now let's turn to our outlook. For 2020, we believe we can deliver full-year revenue of $630 million to $640 million. The outperformance versus our original 2020 revenue midpoint expectation of $620 million reflects strength across the business as well as growing customer diversification, particularly in federal and international. As you see in our shareholder letter, we're also tracking above plan on the bottom line, driven by revenue outperformance, expense leverage in travel, and event cost savings of about $12 million. In 2021, we expect to continue to build on our strong momentum. Given the rapid pace of growth we're seeing, we want to provide you with a framework around our view of the business. Since our August update, we've seen an uptick in our level of visibility. While there is some risk from the ongoing impacts of COVID, most municipal budgets for January have been set. After taking into account some small pockets of budget slowdown, we feel confident in our positioning and outlook heading into next year. Additionally, we're continuing to diversify in products and markets. Our initial view of the business for next year is for $720 million to $750 million in revenue with $120 million to $130 million in adjusted EBITDA. This reflects continued strength on the top line and consistent adjusted EBITDA margin performance, excluding the aforementioned $12 million of expense favorability in 2020 due to the pandemic. Finally, I want to touch on ESG, which we're hearing about from a growing number of our investors. Axon is a mission-driven company whose overarching goal is to protect life, and that social mission is what drew many of us to the company. We see our revenues as supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In our shareholder letter, we talk about Sprint for Justice, which Rick mentioned earlier. This product development initiative created features such as automatically flagging body camera video if a racial slur is detected using VR training to help officers better respond to high-stake situations and promoting a growth mindset among officers by offering a coaching feature. ESG is a growing area of focus for us, and you can expect to see more from us on this front over the coming year. We're in the final stretch of a high-performance year. I want to reiterate how proud I am of our employees for their crisp execution in a challenging environment and for their unwavering support of our customers. As we plan for 2021, we feel highly confident about how we're positioned across the board. And with that, Andrea, let's move to questions.

Operator, Operator

Thank you, Jawad and team. Moderators, can you bring everybody up into gallery view? Let me know when that happens, please.

Operator, N/A

We're all up in gallery view.

Keith Housum, Analyst

All right. Can you hear me now? Sorry about that, guys. Jawad, can you go into a little more detail and remind us about the investments that are going to be made in the channel, the product, and the infrastructure? I guess, particularly, I'm interested in some of the investments you're going to be making to grow the international business.

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Yes, absolutely. So we made investments this year in new geographies that we had never been in before, really on the heels of investments in previous years in new markets like India and Ukraine. We have seen great early results. I'm going to let Josh talk a little more about that. When we put boots on the ground, there's no substitute for that. What we found is that establishing offices with Axon employees in these new markets leads to not only increased pipeline, but in many cases a return within the same year. So we're doubling down on that strategy. The channel investments next year will expand into even more geographies. From a product standpoint, we're continuing to invest heavily in software. The Sprint for Justice initiative that Jeff led with his team this year is a great example of leveraging investments in our product. Just a little bit of extra effort goes a long way. From the support infrastructure standpoint, we are preparing to become a $1 billion-plus revenue company and everything that comes along with it, including an ERP implementation, which we're well underway in HRIS and other back-office support systems that we're putting in place to help the company scale.

Keith Housum, Analyst

Great. And if I can follow up on that. In terms of the international expansion, are all the entire product portfolio going to be available internationally? So I guess what I'm getting at is will the software be written or translatable into any language? Or are you going to be limited in terms of what you can offer where based on languages?

Jeff Kunins, Chief Product Officer

Ultimately, I think we view any international customer as an opportunity to not only sell TASERs and body cams but also move them to the cloud and Evidence.com. For some markets, customers are adopting Evidence.com right off the bat, while for other markets, they're adopting our on-premise solution, Commander, first and then subsequently moving to Evidence.com over time. For us, the most important thing for any international customer is to get one of our products in their hands. It really doesn't matter to us which one they start with because we can feel confident that we'll be able to deploy more and more of our products with those same customers over time.

Keith Housum, Analyst

Okay. So language will not be a barrier to what country you can offer your product portfolio?

Jeff Kunins, Chief Product Officer

No.

Keith Housum, Analyst

Great. Thanks, guys. Great quarter.

Jeff Kunins, Chief Product Officer

Thank you.

Operator, Operator

Thanks, Keith. All right. So we're going to take our next question from Will Power at Baird. Go ahead, Will.

Will Power, Analyst

Great. Yes. Thanks for taking my question. I guess, I'll try to slip in two. Maybe the first for Richard or perhaps Rick, whoever wants to take it. Really encouraging to see the progress at federal. I'd just love to get a little more color on what the sales cycles look like generally as you target federal, particularly as you look at that Homeland Security contract, the largest TASER deal in the company's history. And I guess I'd be curious how much more room there might be to go with somebody like Homeland Security? Is this just a starting point? Or are there other things you could build off of from here?

Rick Smith, CEO

Why don't you take that one, Richard?

Richard Coleman, VP and GM of Federal Programs

Absolutely. Yes, the lead times for federal contracts can vary. Typically, there's a two-year budgeting cycle. But that said, every single year federal customers evaluate their gaps, needs, and requirements. So every year, a customer has the opportunity to leverage their funding for technology and/or capabilities that are relevant. We're seeing lead times as low as within a year, extending out to the two years that the budgeting cycle typically offers. Specifically for Customs and Border Protection, they are the largest law enforcement agency across the U.S. with 40,000 law enforcement officers. We see this as a franchise program with nowhere to go but north and additional growth.

Will Power, Analyst

Okay, great. And maybe a question for Jawad. It was great to see some initial thoughts on 2020. Help us out on the key insights from your end to help what was your confidence in laying out that revenue guidance? What were the key inputs that provided that visibility at this point, particularly given some of the ongoing questions with respect to municipal budgets?

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Yes, of course. Look, one of our core values as a company is transparency. We've got great relationships with our investors and our analysts, and we've always prided ourselves on the level of information and detail that we share to help them model our business. One of the things we heard consistently throughout 2020 was that after we pulled our guidance earlier this year, it was difficult to model our business. We've got a lot of moving parts and increasing complexity. The reality is, our business has been diversifying along two vectors. Who we sell to is rapidly expanding beyond law enforcement, and where we sell is rapidly expanding beyond the U.S. The fact is, our business is more resilient today than it's ever been. We wanted to share our view on how 2021 is lining up for us again to help folks model our business.

Will Power, Analyst

Okay. Thank you.

Operator, Operator

Thanks, Will. Next question from Erik Lapinski at Morgan Stanley. Go ahead, Erik.

Erik Lapinski, Analyst

Sorry, I think I was on mute. Congrats on the quarter. Thanks. Maybe just a quick one regarding the ramp shipments of Body 3. Can you give us any context into just the attach rate for the more LTE connected features and kind of the usage there? Is it going up pretty much in line with what you would expect? Is it maybe improving better or worse?

Rick Smith, CEO

Yes. Absolutely. I think we're very, very excited about where we're at right now with interest in live streaming and other connected features with Axon Body 3. Without going too deep into the numbers, I would say we feel really good about the amount of adoption we've seen through 10 or 11 months here. Certainly going into next year, we have a very strong pipeline of connected services. Customers need some time to build that into their budget when launching a new product at any point in the year. This year, many of our new camera first-time purchases included a lot of the connected services. Going into next year, I think a big point of focus is year two of those budget cycles to upgrade those same connected plans. Customers have been working with us, and their city councils to secure funding to add those feature sets, and we’re really excited about the runway we have to get hopefully every Axon Body 3 onto our Respond or Respond Plus platforms.

Luke Larson, President

And just one quick addition to that, as we mentioned in the shareholder letter, both from a sales perspective, and usage and engagement, while it's still early days, over 200 agencies have actively used Aware in the past 30 days with more than two dozen consistently using it every single week now. We've seen tremendous growth in the adoption of live streaming as it begins to roll out, growing over six times over the past six months.

Erik Lapinski, Analyst

Got it. That's awesome. Thanks. And then just one other one regarding the percentage of TASERs sold on a subscription going up. Is that becoming more the highest rate you've seen? Was that some of that a factor of perhaps a large order being sold on subscription? Or is it pacing to even the rate that you would expect moving forward?

Rick Smith, CEO

Ultimately, the majority of TASER 7s are on subscription plans. The vast majority. The way I think about it is over time as the mix of T7s goes up relative to our other TASERs, the more that number will be driven up as well. I certainly would expect, although nothing is guaranteed, that we look for that number to keep growing unless there's an outsized international order as a one-time purchase or an outsized order on X2 or X26P.

Operator, Operator

Just to clarify, it was also tied to the mix of domestic shipments in the quarter. So 75% is a great number and we're proud of it, but it will fluctuate depending on domestic versus international. Okay. Our next question is from Joe Osha at JMP Securities. Go ahead, Joe.

Joe Osha, Analyst

Okay. Am I unmuted? That's the first and most important question. Going back to the comments about next year, I'm wondering if we could get some insight into how that might break down in terms of TASER sales versus cloud. And then I'm also interested in whether computer-automated dispatch and records might be contributing meaningfully.

Rick Smith, CEO

Yes. We definitely have goals across all products, including dispatch and records. Certainly, we've seen promising indicators in terms of interest and commitments this year that will translate into deployments and dollars next year in dispatch and records. As we look at the TASER business, we try to set a goal for how much we want the TASER business to grow year-over-year. Absolutely, we anticipate TASER growth in that number. Likewise, we expect all segments to grow, including software and sensors, cloud, and so forth.

Joe Osha, Analyst

Could I perhaps get some numbers around that in terms of mix?

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Not at this time, Joe. We provided directional guidance for how we're thinking about 2021, and we feel good about that guidance today, but that's the extent of the detail we're going to provide.

Operator, Operator

You always got to try right? I'm just checking to see who's logged in recently because we've had some folks logging in. Let's take our next question from Jonathan Ho at William Blair. Go ahead, Jonathan.

Jonathan Ho, Analyst

Hi, good afternoon and congrats on the strong quarter. I just wanted to circle back to the Fed opportunities. Does the IDIQ contract potentially give you a hunting license to go and maybe chase other agencies or subagencies down? Can you also share your thoughts around the GSA schedule as well?

Rick Smith, CEO

Yes. Go ahead, Richard.

Richard Coleman, VP and GM of Federal Programs

Absolutely. Yes, an IDIQ contract is like a hunting license. Think of it as a contract vehicle that allows the federal customer to buy off a pre-agreed catalog from Axon. This IDIQ has multiple—the department level— agencies within that department can then follow on and purchase off of the IDIQ.

Jonathan Ho, Analyst

Great. We've definitely seen some interest here in terms of de-escalation products. Can you talk a little about whether that could drive additional bundling and the reception you've seen from de-escalation given the current political environment?

Rick Smith, CEO

In Q2, with the lockdowns and such, that was probably the low point of the year for TASER sales in the U.S., which really roared back in Q3. I am so proud of our entire global team, especially our state and local team. We see record interest in TASERs, quarter-over-quarter. We expect that to continue to grow both in state and local where we see it more incrementally, and then federal and international where we hope to see it more exponentially. There's very strong demand for TASERs, and we expect to continue seeing that throughout the year.

Operator, Operator

Okay, thank you guys. We'll take our next question from Jeremy Hamblin at Craig-Hallum. Go ahead, Jeremy. You're on mute.

Jeremy Hamblin, Analyst

Can you hear me now? Sorry about that. I just wanted to congratulate you on the fantastic results. I wanted to ask about the records business. I know there's a little more embedded competition in that portion of your business now. I wanted to get a sense of your initial ramp—whether you think you can gain share and adoption faster due to the relationships you've built over the years.

Josh Isner, Chief Revenue Officer

Absolutely, Jeremy. Over the last 10 years, body cameras were a little slower out of the gate to be adopted. We've put ourselves in a market leadership position there. Our strategy involves packaging our record solutions with body camera solutions. We respect the competition; they're all great companies. However, we've built our team, channel, product team, and company for moments like this where we can enter new markets and win in them. This year, we’ve seen very promising results, and I believe we're going to be the market leaders in records and dispatch.

Jeremy Hamblin, Analyst

And if I could, I wanted to ask Jawad regarding 2021. You've seen exceptional growth in the weapons side of the business. Does that mean you feel double-digit growth can continue, despite expectations?

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Yes. I'm more excited about our TASER business now than I ever have been. I've never felt better about the company overall. TASER is a big part of it. We anticipate growth from TASER both domestically and with federal and international markets. These investments we're making in products with records and dispatch will help our ARR grow rapidly, maintaining our growth rate over the next few years.

Rick Smith, CEO

Do not forget the TASER business. It is a transformative and exciting business. Before this decade is out, we will have a weapon that matches or even outperforms a 9mm in stopping power. We have the opportunity to become the primary weapon of law enforcement officers globally. This message has been positively received within law enforcement, and the environment we're in reinforces this need. We've got a really good less lethal weapon system today, and we see ongoing opportunities for improvements.

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

I want to jump back to say I'm just as excited as Rick regarding TASER. We expect big things from our consumer team. They've had a banner year, hitting their plan in just seven months. We anticipate product launches that will get more of a push. We're focusing on TASER but also on new product forms to open up new markets.

Jeremy Hamblin, Analyst

Fantastic! Thanks, guys.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Next question from Joshua Reilly at Needham. Go ahead, Joshua.

Joshua Reilly, Analyst

Hey there. Thanks for taking my questions. You just had your customer conference in August. What did you see regarding demand and pipeline generation from that event compared to historical in-person events? How does that compare to the increased customer interest generated from the social unrest over the summer?

Rick Smith, CEO

Let me start, then I'll pass to Josh. Overall, being virtual, the level of attendance was something like 10,000 sign-ups, which is roughly 4x or 5x last year. While not everyone showed up, the feedback indicated that the attendees enjoyed it. We facilitated VR headsets loaded with some of the content for a subset of the attendees. Despite challenges, it was a broader reach; while maybe not as deep in terms of time commitment. We definitely see the value in in-person engagements moving forward, but attendance this year exceeded the previous year.

Josh Isner, Chief Revenue Officer

I want to be careful about how we discuss recent social unrest. It’s not a victory. Our sales process focuses on covering the market and showcasing the value of our products. External factors can motivate a customer's urgency to make a purchase, but our commitment is to the value we provide. We’re optimistic about fulfilling our business and societal goals.

Luke Larson, President

Accelerate was a huge success in terms of connecting with customers digitally, which might have been challenging in-person a year ago. A silver lining of the pandemic is that it pushed people into virtual engagements quickly. We were pleased about our ability to reach a larger number of customers and showcase our de-escalation and transparency tools. Our customers appreciate the lasting relationships we've built, which motivate them to explore buying our solutions to handle complex issues effectively.

Joshua Reilly, Analyst

Okay, great. One follow-up: Net revenue retention increased one point sequentially in the quarter. Does that imply ongoing success in upselling the OSP bundles? Is that case, how do we perceive relative penetration for OSP at this point within the body cam customer base?

Rick Smith, CEO

Yes, that's correct. Our strategy has been geared toward more higher-value bundles like OSP 7 Plus. As more customers adopt, we can expect an increase in our net retention. For the second part, Josh can clarify.

Josh Isner, Chief Revenue Officer

On net revenue retention, I want to credit our customer success team for enhancing the experience for our customers. We’re seeing mid- and larger-sized agencies demonstrating interest and success with OSP. We plan to tailor OSP packages more precisely to specific segments like corrections and smaller agencies to optimize our offerings. Our goal is that every customer purchases a camera, a software license, a records license, and a TASER simultaneously. We’re progressing toward that goal.

Rick Smith, CEO

Before we continue, Andrea, I want to share my screen and demonstrate a feedback tool I use with many of our customers called Slido. I'm offering you the same opportunity. If you get your smartphone and go to slido.com and enter the code Axon or point your camera at the QR code, you'll enter our feedback session. You can share feedback and ask questions. Thank you for your patience and for sticking around. I believe we're all feeling the effects of the pandemic and hope this remains a space for camaraderie among our calls.

Operator, Operator

Thanks, Rick. Okay, we're going to take our next question from Charlie Anderson at Colliers. Charlie, you’re up.

Charlie Anderson, Analyst

Thanks for taking my questions, and congrats on a really strong quarter. I wanted to revisit the consumer TASER commentary; that's interesting. Could you clarify the mix of push versus pull marketing? Is this sustainable? What does that mean for TASER's gross margin and the cartridge business?

Jawad Ahsan, CFO

Great question, Charlie. It's a little of both. Earlier in the year, we saw increased sales coinciding with people staying home and seeking more self-defense options. Gun sales and TASER sales rose for similar reasons. We hired a new general manager for the consumer business who has a strong marketing background. We're ramping up our strategy to increase distributor sales and direct-to-consumer sales. These efforts have produced great returns early on, and next year, we plan product launches that will push even more. We're not only focusing on the TASER form factor but also on new appealing forms that cater to people who aren’t considering traditional weapons. We see favorable margins in the consumer segment, enhancing our law enforcement margins.

Charlie Anderson, Analyst

Okay, great. As a follow-up, we've heard significant police reform bills coming from the federal government this year. I'm curious about the general perceptions surrounding reform at both federal and state levels and if there are regulatory opportunities that could provide tailwinds for your business in the next year or so?

Rick Smith, CEO

A few weeks ago, a Republican U.S. Congressman informed me that part of their police reform platform is to promote body cameras for every officer in America. This supports both sides of the aisle, with widespread backing for police reform, particularly around body cameras. It's essential to highlight the value of TASER weapons. We saw recent tragedy in Philadelphia where communities question why officers didn't carry TASERs. While we dislike leveraging these events, we do provide meaningful solutions. I’m optimistic about productive conversations as we approach 2021. There’s significant bipartisan potential for technology-based solutions in police reform.

Luke Larson, President

I echo Rick’s comments; we’re seeing bipartisan support for reform supporting tech for body cameras and increased training. In June, Joe Biden sought $300 million to train and reinvigorate community policing; this underscores a pragmatic approach that prioritizes training and funding over cuts.

Operator, Operator

I believe that's all of our questions. Let me check for any follow-ups. If anyone has questions, please raise your hand.

Rick Smith, CEO

A couple have come through the chat. Do you want to touch on the sales of body cams used by correctional guards and police officers?

Josh Isner, Chief Revenue Officer

Absolutely. Major correctional agencies and sheriff's offices are starting to deploy these. In fact, we stood up a team to focus on adjacent markets, including corrections. We're seeing good reception as we leverage successful use cases across the country.

Rick Smith, CEO

Right. I think we also covered the other question. The transcript will be posted online for those who missed something.

Operator, Operator

Now, we'll turn it over to Rick for a closing statement. It’s been heartwarming to hear from you that you're watching our earnings calls with your kids, and they're learning about asset management.

Rick Smith, CEO

You guys have already seen, in fact we've had three people respond already which I appreciate. I'm leaving this up to provide feedback. If you can guess the backgrounds, real or not, we'll send you some swag. Please provide your shirt size and feedback about our format. As you know, we've all been a bit stir crazy. We hope you enjoy these earnings calls, not just for results but for fun as a community. Thanks for your support, and I look forward to reporting our results in the New Year. It's been a rough year, but I'm feeling optimistic about the future.

Operator, Operator

Thank you. Bye.