Participants

Kevin Maxwell; Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, General Counsel, Secretary; Smith & Wesson Brands Inc

Mark Smith; President, Chief Executive Officer, Director; Smith & Wesson Brands Inc

Deana McPherson; Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary; Smith & Wesson Brands Inc

Matthew Raab; Analyst; Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC

Rommel Dionisio; Analyst; Aegis Capital Corp

Mark Eric Smith; Analyst; Lake Street Capital Markets LLC

Presentation

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Smith & Wesson Brands second quarter fiscal 2025 financial results conference call. This call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Kevin Maxwell, Smith and Wesson's General Counsel, who will give some information about today's call.

Kevin Maxwell

Thank you and good afternoon. Our comments today may contain forward-looking statements. Our use of the words anticipate, project, estimate, expect, intend, believe, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may also include statements on topics such as our product development objectives, strategies, market share, demand, consumer preferences, inventory conditions for our products, growth opportunities and trends, and industry conditions in general.
Forward-looking statements represent our current judgment about the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our statements today. These risks and uncertainties are described in our SEC filings which are available on our website along with a replay of today's call. We have no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
We reference certain non-GAAP financial results. Our non-GAAP financial results exclude relocation expense and other costs. Reconciliations of GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures can be found in our SEC filings and in today's earnings press release, each of which is available on our website. Also, when we reference EPS, we are always referencing fully diluted EPS and any reference to EBITDAs is to adjusted EBITDAs.
Before I hand the call over to our speakers, I would like to remind you that when we discuss NICS results, we are referring to adjusted NICS, a metric published by the National Shooting Sports Foundation based on FBI NICS data. Adjusted NICS removes those background checks conducted for purposes other than firearms purchases. Adjusted NICS is generally considered the best available proxy for consumer firearm demand at the retail counter. Because we transfer firearms only to law enforcement agencies and federally licensed distributors and retailers and not to end consumers, NICS generally does not directly correlate to our shipments or market share in any given time period, we believe mostly due to inventory levels in the channel.
Joining us on today's call are Mark Smith, our President and CEO, and Deana McPherson. Our CFO with that, I will turn the call over to Mark.

Mark Smith

Thank you, Kevin, and thanks everyone for joining us today. Second quarter results came in below our expectations as overall demand for firearms normalized late in the quarter. Despite these headwinds, we continue to outperform the market and believe we gained share led by our best-in-class innovation with new products representing 44% of our sales in the period which I'll cover in more detail in a few moments.
From a profitability standpoint, as we've detailed many times before, our unique flexible manufacturing model is designed to quickly react to the volatility that is typical in the firearms industry. And as always, our team executed very well in response to the slowdown enabling us to again deliver solid adjust EBITDAs.
Looking at the overall firearms market as measured by FBI background checks for firearms purchases, adjusted NICS was up 1.1% for our second quarter but deteriorated significantly as the quarter progressed including a 5% decline in October. Overall for Smith & Wesson, our units shipped into the channel increased by 8.7%. While distributor and strategic retail account inventory largely held flat with only a 2.7% increase indicating strong share growth despite a challenging market.
Breaking those numbers down by category, handgun NICS was flat in Q2, while long gun NICS was up 3.6%. For Smith & Wesson, our handgun shipments were up 19.2% significantly outperforming the market due mostly to very strong demand for our new products led by the entry level price, Bodyguard 2.0. On long guns, our shipments were down 26.4%. However, I will note that this is largely due to timing associated with channel fill shipments and our performance of new products in the comparable quarter last year.
Removing these outliers, shipments of our core long gun line were down only 4.8% which is typical this quarter, which is the strongest quarter for hunting products. And since we are just beginning to enter the hunting category with our lever action rifles, the benefit was less impactful on our results.
We believe that the primary driver of the demand pressure continues to be inflation. The consumer cautiousness with discretionary spend that we observed in recent quarters was more pronounced during Q2 than we anticipated. I will also note that this continued until November, as evidenced by the recent next results. Lower or opening price point product is generally performing better which is evidence of trade down activity.
We are well positioned to navigate this challenging demand environment as we have many times before. By remaining focused on executing against our flexible manufacturing model, we expect to preserve profitability and a strong balance sheet. Additionally, we expect to maintain and gain share through innovation.
Highlighting this point, our new bodyguard 2.0 chambered in 380 which we launched in July has quickly become one of the most sought after concealed carry crystals in the industry. And we are proud to have won best new handgun of 2024 from the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers, which represents our largest channel customers and also 2024 Handgun of the Year from Guns and Ammo magazine, one of the most popular firearm consumer publications.
Additionally, our 1854 lever action rifle continues to perform well. And with our planned expansion of this popular line throughout the second half of FY25, we expect this momentum to build even further as the year progresses. Smith & Wesson has proven to be a leader in innovation. With a very strong pipeline and new products, an award-winning engineering and design team, and core value of operational excellence in quality and manufacturing efficiency, innovation will continue to be a strong driver of success.
Moving now to average selling prices. Overall ASP were down 8% versus a year ago driven by mix factors as well as increased promotional activity. Handgun ASP declined 11% reflecting strong sales of the bodyguard 2.0 which has a retail price of around $400 combined with lower sales than revolvers. In contrast, long gun ASPs increased 11% due to the increased sales of lever action rifles relative to the remainder of the long gun line.
Additionally and as expected, the market has become increasingly competitive with substantial promotional activity across the board. With our strong balance sheet, we are able to carefully evaluate our participation in promotions and we'll continue to do so thoughtfully, but we do anticipate sustained pressure on ASP throughout the remainder of the fiscal year from promotional spending.
In summary, our disciplined approach to managing the business continues to deliver solid profitability and a strong balance sheet no matter the market conditions. We remain committed to our capital allocation strategy of returning value to the stockholders, as evidenced by our very healthy quarterly dividends and our repurchase of 1.6 million shares since the beginning of this fiscal year with 754,000 of those shares purchased in Q2.
Finally. And as always, I just want to thank our entire team of dedicated Smith & Wesson employees for tirelessly putting their skills to work every day to make us successful. With that, I'll turn the call over to Deana to cover the financials.

Deana McPherson

Thanks, Mark. Net sales for our second quarter of $129.7 million or $4.7 million or 3.8% above the prior year comparable quarter on the strength of our new Bodyguard 380 pistol and lever action rifles. During the quarter, inventory in the distribution channel grew slightly in terms of actual units, but declined significantly in terms of weeks outstanding as expected due to increased volume. Handgun ASPs declined significantly from Q1 levels reflecting volume growth in the Bodyguard combined with additional promotions.
As expected, ASPs for long guns returned to Q4 levels. As a reminder, Q1 long gun ASPs were disproportionately high due to the mix of higher priced products and lower overall volume. Gross margin of 26.6% was 1.2% above the comparable quarter last year due to a onetime accrual in the prior year quarter for a legal settlement. Excluding this onetime accrual, the prior year margin would have been 28% or 1.3% higher than the current year. The current year margin was negatively impacted by the lower average handgun selling prices and higher labor and overhead costs.
Operating expenses of $27.6 million for our second quarter were $400,000 lower than the prior comparable quarter, with higher R&D costs and legal expenses being more than offset by the absence of costs associated with the meal grand opening event last year. The increased sales volume and related margin resulted in the income of $4.1 million or $0.09 per share. On a non-GAAP basis, income from share was $0.11.
Cash used in operations for the second quarter was $7.4 million compared with $2.9 million in the prior year comparable quarter due to a larger increase in net working capital in the current quarter, partially offset by increased net income. We spent $3.3 million on capital projects this quarter compared with $34.9 million in the prior year comparable quarter, primarily due to lower investment in the current year related to the relocation. We expect our capital spending for the year to be between $25 million and $30 million.
In September, our board approved a new $50 million share repurchase authorization effective when the prior authorization expired. Also, during the quarter, we signed a new unsecured $175 million line of credit. This new line increased our total available borrowing by $75 million and extended the maturity to October 2029.
This new unsecured line of credit as nearly identical terms as our prior line that was set to expire in August 2025 and shows the continued support that we have from our banking partners. During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 754,000 shares at an average price of $12.94 for a total of $9.8 million. We paid $5.8 million in dividends and ended the quarter with $39.1 million in cash and $100 million in borrowings on our line of credit which we expect to pay down in the second half.
Finally, our Board has authorized our $0.13 quarterly dividends to be paid to stockholders of record on December 19, with payment to be made on January 2. Looking forward to a third quarter based on the softer demand trends we've seen across the industry in recent months, we have reduced our expectations for the second half of fiscal 2025 and now expect full year revenue to be 5% to 10% lower than fiscal 2024.
Although we are experiencing very strong support for our new products, we are also seeing a more visible impact from inflation consumer on behavior including trading down to lower price products for many of our core products. In addition, promotional activity has increased significantly due to market dynamics, creating incremental margin pressure that we expect to result in our full-year margins being in line or even slightly below fiscal 2024.
Channel inventory is expected to remain stable and we believe that the distribution channel remains cautious and will continue to manage their inventory carefully. For our third quarter, we expect our top line to be approximately 10% to 15% lower than fiscal 2024 with margins of few points lower than the prior year quarter due to increased promotions and lower ASPs. We also expect to see operating expenses at 5% to 10% above the prior year comparable quarter due to investments in research and development, promotions, and marketing programs to derive volume-related market share.
Our effective tax rate is expected to be approximately 25%. Due to the changes in the market and the share of purchases that we've already completed, we now expect to end the year with debt levels similar to or slightly above last year with roughly an equivalent amount of cash on hand.
Although we expect the cash generation will be lower than our annual target of $75 million, our capital spending needs are also lower due to the completion of the relocation and our focus on internal projects. This will allow us to repay a large portion of our outstanding revolver while still investing in our business. As a reminder, our capital allocation plan continues to be; invest in our business, remain debt free, and return cash to our stockholders.
With that operator, can we please open the call to questions from our analysts?

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator Instructions)
Steve Dyer, Craig-Hallum.

Matthew Raab

Hi, guys. This is Matthew Raab on for Steve, just one for me. Thanks for all the color on the puts and takes in the model. Just on ASPs, it sounds like there's a little bit more pressure in the second half. Do you think you can kind of hold the Q2 levels or do you think it's going to come down a little bit more than that across both handguns and long guns?

Mark Smith

Yeah, good question. As I -- this is Mark as I covered in the, in the prepared remarks, we will be seeing some pressure from probably some a little bit increased promotional activity, just do the competitive market. But we do believe that that's going to be more than offset by mix associated with some new products that we'll be launching here in the beginning of our third quarter. So overall for the second half, I think you can kind of anticipate that Q3 will be largely flat on handguns up a little bit on the long guns. And then overall for the second half will be actually be up slightly on ASP for both.

Matthew Raab

Okay, got that. And then just on the channel, you covered it in the comments. But it seems to be mostly the finished goods, what's the confidence level bringing down inventory in the in the second half in the backdrop of a cooling off gun market?

Mark Smith

Yeah, I mean, obviously the inventory rose a little bit more than anticipated, just simply related to the fact that the market was a little bit softer than we anticipated specifically in the back half of September and into October. But we have a pretty robust sales and operations planning process that we go through on monthly basis to make sure that our production is aligned with sales volume.
So feel pretty comfortable with the with being able to bring that inventory, back down. And again, strong balance sheet for the company, the core focus of ours and so, no rush there. There's no need to kind of jerk the manufacturing plant around. We'll kind of ramp that down and feel very comfortable with the inventory reduction by the end of the year.

Matthew Raab

Okay, great. That's it for me, thanks.

Operator

Rommel Dionisio, Aegis Capital.

Rommel Dionisio

Good afternoon, thanks for taking my question. With regards to new product launches, obviously, this is the time of year where the industry is going to aggressively launch and I will leave you guys. I wonder mark if you could just give us an initial feel for -- I realize it's early, it's still early December, but just maybe give us an initial feel for the proclivity of retailers and distributors to take on inventory, given the backdrop of somewhat challenging inflationary environment. Thanks.

Mark Smith

Sure. Yeah, good question Rommel.
I think in this environment, I don't think the fire arms market is unique in this for consumer goods, but it's all going to be about innovation and nonetheless than, I think we've proven over the last couple of years, we definitely are the leader in the marketplace on innovation and where that's going to continue to be a focus area of ours. So that -- the probability of the retailers and the channel partners to bring on inventory there, that's what they're looking for.
They're looking for new products. That's where the volume is right now. I mean, the two kind of real nice bright spots for us in the second quarter where that Bodyguard 380 that we want in July. That's quickly become the number one concealed carry pistol in the in the marketplace. And the Lever Action continues to perform well. So as we continue to keep up that cadence of new product introduction in the back half, we're pretty optimistic that those are going to be a nice price for a second.

Rommel Dionisio

Maybe just a quick follow up if I could. I noticed obviously the softening consumer demand primarily cited inflation. There was weather a factor, it seemed like it was a really warm fall early start this hunting season and a lot of key markets in the country. So was there any impact from that, would you say?

Mark Smith

No, I wouldn't say so. Actually, around our August was very strong. August was strong, beginning of September was strong, and it kind of started to slow down there second half of September into October. So I really do think it's as we covered in the prepared remarks and we believe it's really just related to inflation and just the pressure on the discretionary spend with consumer's wallets. And so that really is the primary driver there.

Rommel Dionisio

Okay, fair enough, Thanks so much.

Operator

Mark Smith, Lake Street Capital Markets.

Mark Eric Smith

Hi, guys, handful of questions for me today. First, I just wanted to walk through the guidance to make sure that I kind of caught everything right here. Just for the year on revenue, you said down 5% to 10% I believe and margins similar to last year. Just correct me if I'm wrong on either of those. But then I missed kind of your operating expense guidance for the year.

Deana McPherson

We didn't give operating expense guidance for the year, we only gave for the quarter. Quarter will be a 5% to 10%.

Mark Eric Smith

Perfect, that's what I missed. Thank you.
Mark just wanted to jump back in on ASP, primarily looking at handgun but, but maybe kind of across the board in products. Can you talk about how much ASP maybe was under pressure due to the success of a Bodyguard and maybe the mix of a lower priced item versus maybe just general consumer pull back and then gravitating towards lower priced items, maybe trading out into other brands that aren't that maybe cater to a budget price handgun. As well as kind of any thoughts that you have around, use firearm market and how that's maybe showing NICS a little bit higher but, but maybe not as relevant to NICS, maybe less relevant to what your business is in?

Mark Smith

Sure. Yeah, I think it's probably a little bit of a combination of both market on the ASPs in terms of trading down to lower price products and the success of the Bodyguard 380. For us, I think, as I covered in the margin, we took share specifically in handguns. And so, I think in terms of the trade down -- I mean, sorry, the trading out for other brands, I don't think that frankly for us as a factor.
I think, the bigger factor was just the success of that Bodyguard, which is great, that's what we want. We want innovation to be driving the bus right now. When it's a challenging environment, whoever's got the best new products is going to win. Right now, we're winning, so that's good. On the used gun market, any time the firearms market kind of starts off like this. Used gun market does tend to pick up a little bit and so just like it always has, it is picking up a little bit right now.

Mark Eric Smith

Okay. And then, you talked about promotional environment a little bit, maybe give us any indication of how you feel about the rebate programs that you guys can run. It seems like later in the quarter, but still some current ones out there. If you feel like you're getting kind of the bang for your buck on those, how successful that's been kind of response from consumers.

Mark Smith

Yeah. As I said in the remarks, we're pretty thoughtful about it. We're not -- with the balance sheet strength that we have, we don't have to be reactionary. So we really make sure we take our time and, and evaluate it and make sure we're getting -- we're going to get a return for that dollar spent on rebates and on promotions, whether it be within the channel or targeted towards the consumer.
And as far as the two that are active right now, they're doing really well for us. They're exceeding or meeting expectations. So it's working for us to sit back and kind of make sure we take a pretty measured approach to that. That as we go forward, we're going to need to continue -- we're likely going to need to continue to participate there just because it's a more competitive environment.

Mark Eric Smith

Okay. Looking broadly at the industry, we've talked a bit about your kind of inventory levels. Is there any fear or how do you feel about kind of industry inventory levels? Are you seeing kind of stockpiling by retailer distributors, things kind of backing up an inventory getting jammed higher than it should be within the industry or is the industry being thoughtful, I guess around inventory?

Mark Smith

Yeah, I, actually, it's the opposite. They're being very thoughtful. They're not stockpiling at all. We're very comfortable with the inventory levels we see in the channel. I think as you know, we measure on a very frequent basis, we're looking at attributer inventory levels, and measuring where they're at, and making sure they're not getting out of their SKUs. And they're not the inventory levels out there are very healthy, we're very comfortable with where they're standing.

Mark Eric Smith

Excellent. And I think the last one for me, maybe a tough one to answer because we can't quantify it. But it's -- we think about just big picture here and kind of outlook for shooting sports, the firearm industry here over the next year or two. You are -- is there a reason to think that we're maybe past or beyond fear-based buying that we saw kind of in the past?
We saw kind of a weaker demand into the election that we've seen in the past, obviously a lot of firearms purchased over the last four, five years here. Just given the mix of kind of government and courts, do you feel like maybe we're past that, big spikes in demand just as people fear any increased regulations?

Mark Smith

Yeah, I think -- look, I think the primary driver obviously right now is just the fact that the consumer's wallet and discretionary spend is being benched by the state of the economy and inflation, etcetera and, the price of groceries and all the other necessity that the consumers are having to buy and our customers are having to buy.
So obviously that outweighed any fear-based buying around regulation in this election cycle. However, I think there is still that driver out there of the primary drivers move to personal protection. So that definitely is a factor we continue to look at. But I think you're accurate in saying that the fear-based buying around gun control regulation has abated.

Mark Eric Smith

Very helpful. Thank you, guys

Operator

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would like to hand the floor back over to Mark Smith for any closing comments.

Mark Smith

Thank you, operator. And thanks everyone for joining us today and your interest in Smith & Wesson. We look forward to speaking with you all again next quarter.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.