Gun maker Smith & Wesson grapples with low inventory amid record sales

Gun maker Smith & Wesson Inc. says record sales have depleted internal inventories to well below pre-pandemic levels. 

Inventory for the three months that ended on July 31 totaled $97.1 million. There is no direct comparison as the inventory numbers from a year ago include the outdoor segment that was later spun off as American Outdoor Brands Inc.   

Internal inventory levels remain "well below our target," CFO Deana McPherson said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

She added that distributor inventory was at about eight weeks of supply, or the "target level."

Smith & Wesson’s inventory has been drawn down as firearm sales in the U.S. have boomed since the early days of the pandemic due to an increase in socially distant outdoor activities and as people sought protection from the social unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in May 2020. 

The Springfield, Massachusetts-based company on Wednesday evening reported sales in the three months through July surged 19.5% year over year to a record $274.6 million.