Earnings Call Transcript - RGR Q2 2025

Operator, Operator

Welcome to Sturm, Ruger & Company's Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. I would now like to turn the call over to Todd Seyfert, President and CEO, for opening comments.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Good morning, and welcome to Sturm, Ruger & Company's Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. I'm Todd Seyfert, President and Chief Executive Officer. Before we get started, I would like to turn it over to Sarah Colbert, our Senior Vice President and General Counsel, for the caution on forward-looking statements.

Sarah F. Colbert, Senior Vice President and General Counsel

I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements we make today will be forward-looking in nature. These statements reflect our current expectations, but actual results could differ materially due to a number of uncertainties and risks. You can find more information about these factors in our most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Thank you, Sarah. This call marks my first full quarter as President and CEO, and we've moved quickly to position Ruger for long-term success. As part of this leadership transition, we evolved our structure and reorganized our operations to give our business units greater flexibility, clear accountability, and the resources to deliver results more effectively. We also unified all elements of our product strategy under one comprehensive team to sharpen our focus and execution. In connection with these moves, we conducted a thorough inventory rationalization, reassessing our raw materials, work in process, and finished goods to identify and address excess, obsolete, or discontinued inventory. This included legacy models that have run their life cycle, products no longer aligned with our strategy, and Marlin-related items not part of our roadmap for that brand. In addition, we repositioned key elements of our product portfolio to ensure that our most desirable products reach consumers at the right price point. These steps resulted in nonrecurring charges this quarter. Specifically, we incurred an inventory and asset write-off of $17 million. Our product rationalization and SKU reduction totaled $5.7 million, and our organizational realignment expense was $3.7 million. These moves clear the way for us to deliver sustainable growth and show resilience through a cyclical market. Tom Dineen will now take you through the financial results for the quarter.

Thomas A. Dineen, CFO

Thanks, Todd. Net sales for the quarter were $132.5 million, and we incurred a diluted loss of $1.05 per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of the strategic initiatives, diluted earnings per share were $0.41. For the corresponding period in 2024, net sales were $130.8 million, and diluted earnings were $0.47 per share. For the six months ended June 28, 2025, net sales were $268.2 million, and the company lost $0.57 per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding the items above, diluted earnings for the first half of 2025 were $0.87 per share. For the corresponding period in 2024, net sales were $267.6 million, and diluted earnings were $0.87 per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding the reduction in force expense of $1.5 million incurred in the first quarter of 2024, diluted earnings per share for the first half of 2024 were $0.94. On June 28, 2025, our cash and short-term investments totaled $101 million. Our short-term investments are invested in United States treasury bills and in a money market fund that invests exclusively in United States treasury instruments, which mature within one year. On June 28, 2025, our current ratio was 4.0:1, and we had no debt. Stockholders' equity was $289.3 million, which equates to a book value of $17.82 per share, of which $6.24 was cash and short-term investments. In the first half of 2025, we generated $25.9 million of cash from operations, and capital expenditures totaled $6.7 million. We expect capital expenditures in the second half of 2025 to increase from the first half of the year as we invest in new product introductions, expand capacity, upgrade our manufacturing capabilities, and strengthen our facility infrastructure. This increase is exclusive of the Anderson purchase earlier this month that Todd will discuss shortly. In the first half of 2025, we returned $23 million to our shareholders through the payment of $6.9 million of quarterly dividends and the repurchase of 443,000 shares of our common stock at an average price of $36.42 per share for a total of $16.1 million. Our Board of Directors declared a $0.16 per share quarterly dividend for shareholders of record as of August 15, 2025, payable on August 29, 2025. Our longstanding practice has been to pay a dividend of approximately 40% of our net income. Given the significant impact of the noncash charges, this quarter's dividend is approximately 40% of the adjusted diluted earnings of $0.41 per share for the second quarter of 2025. Our dividend strategy, coupled with our strong debt-free balance sheet, allows us to capitalize on opportunities that emerge, like the Anderson acquisition that we completed earlier this month. Now back to you, Todd.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Thanks, Tom. As you can see, we've been very busy. In addition to the inventory reduction, product rationalization, and reorganization, we also had an exciting opportunity to acquire the assets of another historic, well-respected firearms manufacturer in Anderson Manufacturing. As I stated on July 1, the day we closed on the purchase, this acquisition is an incredible opportunity to advance our long-term strategy and expand Ruger's capacity. It reinforces Ruger's position as the nation's leading firearms manufacturer for the consumer market and reiterates my focus on continued growth even as others scale back. The $16 million investment, which was paid for from cash on hand, will increase our capacity, strengthen our manufacturing capabilities, and broaden our product offerings. As I have stated before, we do not plan for this to be our last acquisition. Our strong balance sheet and disciplined financial approach allow us to continue to be proactive in looking for strategic opportunities to grow our portfolio, leverage our infrastructure, and deliver consistent performance over time. Nevertheless, we will continue to be deliberate in our evaluation of opportunities that arise. Beyond the gains we will realize from expanded capabilities in Hebron, Kentucky, our greatest opportunity is new product innovation. As I mentioned earlier, we recently reorganized our product strategy into a singular organization. In doing so, we better aligned new product ideation, voice of the customer insights, and product life cycle management, enabling us to deliver new, relevant products to the market more efficiently and effectively. With that said, our pipeline is strong and our new product offerings are still in demand throughout the channel. For the quarter, new product sales accounted for $42 million or 34% of net firearms sales, which was an increase over Q1 of this year and reinforces the popularity of our innovative products. As always, new product sales include only major new products that were introduced in the past two years. These are high-demand platforms that continue to resonate with customers across a variety of segments, including the RXM pistol, the second-generation Ruger American rifle, Marlin lever-action rifles, the Ruger 10/22 with carbon fiber barrel, and a fourth-generation Ruger Precision Rifle. With our reorganization, renewed focus on product strategy, and our expanded capabilities with the Anderson manufacturing purchase, we are positioned to continue our new product success well into the future. With that said, we understand that macroeconomic pressures such as continued tariff and interest rate uncertainty, a weakening job market, and inflationary pressures are impacting discretionary consumer spending. Specific to the firearms industry, we see softening demand with NICS checks falling below pre-2019 levels and broad impacts being felt across manufacturing, distribution, and retail channels. Yet our focus remains clear, invest in our culture, people, and organizational efficiency; expand our production capabilities to meet product-specific demand; deliver safe, reliable, and innovative products for our consumers; operate with financial discipline, transparency, and thoughtful capital deployment; and maximize shareholder value, continuing to prove that Ruger is a solid investment for the future. We know that the market remains dynamic, and we expect to see continued challenges and potential consolidation across the industry. Our realignment and recent acquisition strengthen Ruger's ability to respond, adapt, and grow for the long term. We remain committed to our guiding principles, delivering rugged, reliable, and innovative products, operating with financial discipline, and creating long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for your time, continued support, and confidence in Ruger. Operator, can we please have the first question?

Operator, Operator

Our first question comes from Mark Smith of Lake Street.

Mark Eric Smith, Analyst

I wanted to ask first about the adjustment to sales just from product rationalization and SKU reduction. If you can just give us more insight into maybe the number of products, lines, kind of all the impact from this on the top line?

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Yes, absolutely. From a rationalization standpoint, the most significant impact came from the American Gen 1 regarding the number of SKUs. We are consolidating AR and MSR production in the Hebron facility, and we also undertook product rationalization on the pistols, such as the EC9. These changes accounted for the majority of the individual SKUs addressed in the rationalization.

Mark Eric Smith, Analyst

Okay. And as we think about this, I think you called it out as a $5.7 million reduction to sales. Did you move more volume, though, maybe as we think about units shipped or maybe the increase in distributor inventory? How much product did you move out that maybe fits in this category?

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

From a unit standpoint, it wasn't a significant percentage of the total market scope. What it allowed us to do was examine our raw material inventory and create specific SKUs to utilize that inventory instead of writing it off, and that's exactly what we did. If we look at the three categories, it’s about 20,000 each, which totals close to 70,000 units that would fall into that specific rationalization category.

Mark Eric Smith, Analyst

Okay. And then the impact on ASP, as we look at maybe the average sales price of the units shipped, the $349, would that have been higher without some of this? Was it that much of a discount to make an impact on that ASP?

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

It would have. It brought it down about 16 across that total 70,000-unit rationalization.

Mark Eric Smith, Analyst

Perfect. And then just looking at the organizational realignment, where are you at in that? Do you feel like you've got the majority of that done? And then maybe if you could talk about the long-term savings coming out of this organizational realignment.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Yes. In terms of the realignment, yes, it is. I would tell you, that happened about 45 days ago through that process. So no other major plans in terms of changes. But this really wasn't a cost savings initiative, Mark. So really, what it is, is evaluating the organization that we need to carry the business forward, realigning the needs of the organization in terms of expertise. And so we moved out some people, and we plan to refill with people that are more focused on the strategy going forward. So I would tell you, in terms of netting out, hey, is this going to be an ongoing savings over time? Really, the way I look at this is it's a reallocation of talent within the organization over time. And so I don't think you'll see a large ongoing savings in this specific example because it wasn't a cost savings initiative. It was a realignment of the organization.

Mark Eric Smith, Analyst

That's helpful. For my last question, I know you don't provide guidance, but could you share what you're observing from consumers regarding demand at this time? Have there been any changes, or is it still relatively quiet according to the NICS data? Any insights into consumer behavior and demand for firearms would be appreciated.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Certainly. Based on my recent travels visiting dealers and distributors, Ruger seems to be outpacing the market in terms of demand. Anecdotally, we have noticed earnings dropping by about 15% to 20% among our partners and channels, but we are not experiencing that in our results. Our current focus is on capturing market share by producing the products that our customers want in a timely manner. Due to our wide range of product offerings, we are somewhat insulated compared to others. In this down market, our emphasis is on innovation and gaining market share, which we believe will persist.

Operator, Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Rommel Dionisio of Aegis Capital.

Rommel Tolentino Dionisio, Analyst

Could you provide more detail on your thoughts regarding the Marlin brand, particularly in relation to inventory rationalization and the omission of Marlin-related items from its future roadmap? I've always perceived that the lever-action rifles have performed exceptionally well for you. I'm interested in your perspective on the brand's future and any insights you might share about its roadmap moving forward.

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Absolutely, Rommel. Thank you. As we evaluate Marlin, the Model 60 is a product that was acquired, including its assets, machinery, and a considerable amount of raw material. Currently, we do not have a plan or solution for the Model 60 in the near term, which accounts for most of the Marlin write-off. The rest of the Marlin line has been quite successful, as reflected in our backlog. We are increasing production rates and expanding the product mix, ensuring a strong pipeline of Marlin rifles for the coming years. Overall, Marlin has been very successful, particularly in the Centerfire Rifle category. However, the Model 60 is not part of our current product strategy, which is why we decided to write off that inventory.

Rommel Tolentino Dionisio, Analyst

Okay. But just to think about that then, so your level of support enthusiasm for the brand in general and long-term plans, am I reading this correctly that you're still as enthusiastic about the prospects of that brand going forward as you always have been? Or is any change here?

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

The feedback from consumers and our customers has been outstanding. Ruger has done an excellent job elevating that product and brand in terms of quality and accuracy. We are truly excited about Marlin's potential moving forward. It's important to note that the items we're discussing writing off were acquired back in 2020. These include raw materials and machinery that have been in the warehouse for over five years and are not relevant to our current product roadmap. However, we have a strong and extensive roadmap for Marlin that we are very enthusiastic about, and we intend to expand that line and the related SKUs in the future.

Operator, Operator

I would now like to turn the conference back to Todd Seyfert for closing remarks. Sir?

Todd W. Seyfert, President and CEO

Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued confidence in Ruger. We look forward to talking again next quarter.

Operator, Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.