The gun industry’s woes a boon for buyers

By Christen Smith

The gun industry’s lingering “malaise” will keep prices low for buyers, analysts suggest. (Photo: Sarah Nader/Northwest Herald)
Financial advisers warned last week gun stocks could be too risky to hold, as major manufacturers and retailers report depressed earnings and lowered expectations — without a tangible end in sight.
It’s good news for guns owners, who can expect the rock bottom prices to linger around a bit longer, even as the industry slides back into its historically strongest seasons.
“This will be an amazing time to be a gun owner, but a bad time to be a gun investor,” said Maks F.S., an investment advisor and contributor at Seeking Alpha, in an analysis of gun stocks Friday. “The firearms manufacturers and distributors bet on the wrong horse in the elections and produced a glut of firearms that must now be sold into a market with declining year-over-year demand.”
Estimated gun sales through July 2017 trail last year, the biggest on record, by 10 percent, according to FBI data. Despite busier-than-expected months for federal background checks — and by proxy, gun sales — in the spring, transfers in June and July tanked 12 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
High profile gun makers and retailers forecasted the volatility in their most

Source: Guns.com