Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Stock

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to Stern Ruger & Company's Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Todd Seyfert, CEO and President. Todd, please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for the Sturm Ruger & Company's Third Quarter 2026 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 General Counsel, for the caution on forward-looking statements.

I'd 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 several 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. Reconciliations of any non-GAAP measures discussed today are available in our earnings release and on our website.

Thank you, Sarah. Our third quarter represented another meaningful step forward in executing our 2026 plan. We delivered another quarter of year-over-year and sequential sales growth while also improving profitability on both a year-over-year and sequential basis.

Just as importantly, we continued making significant changes across the organization that will strengthen how we operate and position the company for the future. During the quarter, we implemented our new Oracle Enterprise platform, continued expanding the Ruger Business System and advanced the work necessary to modernize our manufacturing operations.

Following the quarter, we also announced several portfolio decisions designed to reduce complexity and better align our resources with the products and markets where we see the greatest opportunities for consumer demand, profitability and long-term growth.

Taken together, these actions demonstrate we are doing what we said we would do. We're improving the performance of the business today while building the capabilities necessary to execute our Ruger 2030 strategy.

Now I would like to welcome Andrew Wieland, our Chief Financial Officer, to take you through the financial results.

Thanks, Todd. Net sales for the third quarter were $148 million, an increase of 17% compared with $127 million in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $14 million compared with $3 million in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 10%, driven by favorable product mix, continued premiumization within our existing product families and improved manufacturing efficiencies.

Diluted earnings were $0.36 per share compared with $0.10 per share in the prior year period. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings were $0.44 per share compared with $0.10 per share last year. The Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.18 per share for the third quarter.

Looking at the first nine months of the year, net sales were $447 million, an increase of 13% over the same period in 2025. Cash generated from operations was $24 million. At quarter end, our cash and short-term investments totaled $101 million. Our current ratio is 3:1, and we have no debt.

Year-to-date, our capital expenditures totaled $9 million. As we have mentioned before, we expect capital expenditures to total approximately $30 million for the year. In the first nine months, we returned $6.4 million to our shareholders through the payment of quarterly dividends. Our balance sheet remains strong and gives us the flexibility to continue investing in the business while returning capital to shareholders. Todd?

Thank you, Andrew. Overall, the financial results demonstrate that we are growing the top line, improving profitability and continuing to strengthen the underlying performance of the business. I would like to spend a few minutes connecting several of the changes we've discussed over the past few quarters because they are not separate initiatives. They are pieces of the same strategy.

Earlier this year, we formally established the Ruger Business System. The Ruger Business System provides the operating discipline for how we plan, execute, measure performance and continuously improve. Oracle provides the information and visibility necessary to support that discipline.

Together, the Ruger Business System and Oracle give our teams faster access to information, improved business processes and greater accountability. And we're beginning to use those capabilities to make deliberate decisions about where and how we deploy our resources. That brings me to our portfolio.

In October, we announced that we would suspend production of a limited number of product families and complete final 2026 production and allocation of several others. Collectively, these products represent roughly 4% of our total unit production or roughly $25 million of our total revenues despite generating minimal to no profitability.

These decisions are not about making Ruger smaller. They're about making Ruger stronger. We are taking a disciplined look at how we deploy our people, equipment and capital and ensuring those resources are aligned with the products and markets where we see the greatest opportunities for consumer demand, profitability and long-term growth. This is an important part of becoming a more focused and agile company. Yet, I want to be clear about something.

Portfolio rationalization does not mean we are pulling back from product development. In fact, it's the opposite. We're creating capacity to focus more resources on the products and platforms where we believe Ruger can win. While we're reducing complexity in parts of the portfolio, we're accelerating investment in product innovation.

We anticipate introducing numerous new and innovative models over the coming months. That pipeline reflects the work underway across product development, engineering, manufacturing, sales and marketing… the next generation of our portfolio. We're becoming more disciplined about where we compete, more flexible in how we manufacture and more focused on bringing compelling products to market. That combination is imperative to the long-term growth of Ruger.

At the beginning of the year, we laid out five priorities for 2026. Those priorities were straightforward: improve profitability, align factory capacity with demand, right size the business to our future product portfolio, increase output on proven high-demand product lines and expand into new markets through complete product ecosystems. Three quarters into the year, we have made measurable progress against these priorities.

Profitability has improved. We're modernizing our manufacturing operations and aligning capacity more closely with demand. We've made difficult but necessary portfolio decisions. We're redirecting resources toward products and platforms with stronger opportunities for growth, and we're investing in a significant pipeline of new products that will support the future.

At the same time, we're building the infrastructure that supports all these priorities through individual initiatives that matter. The Ruger Business System provides that discipline. Oracle provides the information. Portfolio rationalization provides the focus, manufacturing modernization provides the flexibility and product innovation provides the opportunity for growth. That's how our 2026 plan begins building the capabilities required for Ruger 2030.

There is still important work ahead, but we're doing what we said we would do. We're executing our 2026 plan while building the capabilities necessary to deliver our Ruger 2030 strategy. Ruger is financially healthy. Our strategy is clear and our organization is aligned around its execution. The decisions we're making today are not simply about improving the next quarter. They're all about building a stronger, more agile and more profitable Ruger capable of creating durable long-term value for our shareholders.

Before we open the call for questions, I want to thank our employees across Ruger for their continued hard work and commitment. There has been significant change across the organization this year, and our teams continue to respond with tremendous effort and focus.

Thank you. Operator, can we please have the first question?

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Mark Smith with Lake Street.

I wanted to ask first about kind of production and capacity. I think that this might have been your highest number of units produced in several years here this quarter. I'm curious how much of this was Kentucky and the addition of that facility and kind of how you feel about how production is running against your capacity?

Mark, so I would tell you, it is a near-term record. A lot of this is the culmination of really what we've been doing in the last 18 months, which is really this focus on rationalization, making sure that we're focused on the right products where there's high demand and investing in that additional capacity where we had the backlog that I know we've talked about in the past.

So I think it's a combination of that. It's a combination of the flexibility in terms of product mix, really focusing that product mix, which is making it a little bit easier in terms of planning. And then finally, I think it's the people getting on board in terms of these priorities across the facilities. All those things together, Mark, I think, are what's driving the increased output.

Perfect. And then looking at your product mix, the ASP on units ordered came in, I guess, a bit lower than expected and lower than historically you've kind of run. Curious, is that purely just a mix thing? Or is there any of the changes in production and development here that maybe impacted some of the orders maybe late in the quarter?

No, I think it really does come down to mix, Mark. Depending on the time of year, Q3 and some of the delays around the shipments in the quarter, I think it really comes down to more mix than anything else. our backlog is still healthy. We're happy with where we sit heading into Q4, kind of holiday season, Black Friday. So to me, that's more of a short-term issue.

Okay. And the last one for me is just looking at distributor inventory. Curious if you can comment on kind of comfort levels. It came up a little bit, but it still seems in a good historical place. But your comfort with the distributor inventory and then any commentary on kind of what you guys are seeing in the demand environment today?

Yes. So I think we're happy with distributor inventory. We monitor that closely, as you know. And to me, it's a proxy of their inventory and the sell-through as well as what we see at retail. Generally speaking, we're happy with where Q3 was in terms of consumer demand. And again, planning for Q4, it really is making sure that our channel is healthy. And I would say that given where we've been in the last year, we're really happy with where the distributors sit with inventory as we head into the fall season.

The next question is from the line of Rommel Dionisio with Aegis Capital.

With regards to some of the supply chain initiatives that you guys are putting into place, are you still very much on track with regards to the new product cadence here as we enter the latter part of the year, especially going to shot over 2027?

Yes, we're actually very happy with the progress we've made. We spent a lot of time in the organization really aligning kind of the new product development process. We have a number of initiatives around the launches. And I think if you're going to be at SHOT Show, hopefully, I'll get to say hello, and you'll be able to see the benefit of the introductions that we'll do there. But we're happy with where we sit in the quarter as far as the new launches that we have planned over the next three to four months.

Okay. And just in terms of -- with a lot of moving parts on the infrastructure internally, can you just talk about redeployment of employee resources? I mean, obviously, you're streamlining the product portfolio and so forth. But is there anything set in place from a manufacturing standpoint, from a marketing standpoint with the specific personnel in place? Obviously, there have been some management additions here over the last few months. And I just want to just check that that's pretty much in place as you launch these new products going into the next several months.

Yes. I would say our deployment is in line with what we've done in the past. I think in terms of just headcount, I think one of the things that is coming through in the quarter is some of the actions that we took early in the year. The savings are flowing through and continue to flow through. So we made the right decisions in terms of allocation of resources early in the year. We took those numbers out, and we haven't replaced them.

And so heading into the fall again, I think in terms of the focus on new product development, the cadence that we want to get into in terms of the amount of new products we're launching within a year and within a quarter, we're on track for those. And we have the, what I would call, the marketing and the sales programs in place to support those.

Your next question is from the line of James Param with Standish Management.

In the past month have released new kind of heritage-focused revolver models. And I was wondering if you could comment kind of where Ruger sees the revolver market and revolver demand going. I mean, obviously, you guys discontinued almost all revolver production and kind of what you guys are seeing that Smith & Wesson and Taurus might not be?

And then kind of a follow-on to that question is, are there plans to kind of handle -- there's a lot of discontent in the gun owner community right now around Ruger's decision to discontinue the heritage lines. Are there plans to kind of address that? And are you worried about losing customers due to this decision?

So I think a couple of questions there. I think the first one is if you look at the total amount of products that we're suspending, and I think it's important that we talk about suspension versus discontinuation. And so the first thing I'll say is that Ruger has a history of suspending production when demand is not there. And I think that's what we're talking about here.

In terms of the market, I can't speak to our competitors, but when we look at demand, demand across some of those categories were low enough for us to have these difficult conversations. If demand returns or if there's a manufacturing opportunity for us to reengineer a product that makes it better and therefore, would increase consumer demand by all means, we will do those things. And so these are things we look at all the time. and we have products that get paused throughout the portfolio. So I think that's the first part of the question.

The second part is, listen, we talk to our customers all the time, and we talk to whether it's distributor partners, whether we talk to our retail partners or our consumers. Some of these things are emotional. But when it comes down to the opportunity for Ruger long term is to make sure that we're listening to what our consumers want. And in the current environment, they're asking for other things than the products that we put on pause.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Todd Seyfert for closing remarks.

Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued investment in Ruger. We're pleased with the progress we're making, but we know there's more work to do. Our focus remains on executing our plan, improving the performance of the business and building a stronger Ruger for our customers, employees and shareholders. We look forward to talking again in the next quarter. Thank you, and have a good evening.

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

Thank you. Hello everyone, thank you for joining us and welcome to the Sturm, Ruger & Company Q2 earnings call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. withdraw your question, please press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Todd Seafoot, CEO. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for the Sturm Ruger & Company's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. I'm Todd Seifert, President and Chief Executive Officer. Before we get started, I would like to turn it over to Sarah Colbert, our General Counsel, for the Caution on Forward-Looking Statements.

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 several 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. Reconciliations of any non-GAAP measures discussed today are available in our earnings release and on our website.

Thank you, Sarah. As you saw in today's earnings release, the second quarter represented another meaningful step forward in executing our 2026 plan. We delivered another quarter of strong financial results while making meaningful progress in strengthening the foundation of the business. we improved our manufacturing performance and formally established the Ruger Business System, which will serve as the framework for how we manage and continuously improve the business going forward. While we're encouraged by our financial performance during the quarter, I'm equally encouraged by how we achieve those results. Let me first take you through the financials for the quarter. Net sales were $158 million, a 19% increase over Q2 2025. This was driven by continued strength across our core product portfolio, higher average selling prices, and increased manufacturing output. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 10.5%, driven by favorable product mix, continued premiumization within our existing product families, and improved manufacturing efficiencies.

Diluted earnings were $0.43 per share, compared to a diluted loss of $1.05 in the prior year period. On an adjusted basis, diluted earnings increased to $0.52 per share compared with $0.41 per share last year. Cash generated from operations totaled more than $17 million for the quarter. We also continued returning capital to shareholders through our quarterly dividend, consistent with our long-standing capital allocation philosophy. the Board of Directors declared a dividend of 21 cents per share for the second quarter. While those results are positive, equally important is the operational progress that made those results possible. One trend I'm particularly encouraged by is our consistency. This marks our fifth consecutive quarter of both sequential and year-over-year sales growth, while profitability has continued improving as we execute initiatives to simplify the business and reduce costs.

During our first quarter call, we discussed production constraints that limited our ability to fully meet customer demand. Our operations teams responded with urgency while remaining focused on maintaining the quality and reliability our customers expect from Ruger products. Throughout the second quarter, we improved manufacturing execution, increased throughput, and began rebuilding finished goods inventory in a disciplined manner. That allowed us to improve product availability without compromising our inventory management objectives. Another important milestone during the quarter was the continued expansion of our accessory business. Accessories represent an important extension of our strategy to build complete product ecosystems that complement our core firearm platforms. Our most recent offerings focus on the vast modern sporting rifle market and leverage the success of our new Harrier rifle.

From a market perspective, consumer demand throughout the quarter developed as we anticipated. Normal seasonality presented itself April through June, as summer months saw a slowing of retail foot traffic as consumers prepared to shift from spring range demand into fall hunt and holiday season. Adjusted NICs remained above prior year levels during the quarter, and our estimated distributor sell-through increased 19% year-over-year, significantly outperforming the approximately 5% increase in adjusted NICs over the same period. Taken together, these trends reinforce our confidence in the health of the business. Consumer demand for the Ruger brand remains strong. Our new products continue gaining traction, and inventory throughout the channel remains balanced. We saw distributors reduce inventory on a year-over-year basis while retail sell-through remained strong, providing additional evidence that demand continues to be driven by consumers rather than inventory replenishment alone.

At the same time, we improved product mix while rebuilding inventory both internally and at distribution, compared to the first quarter. We believe this positions us well heading into the important fall hunting and holiday season, while allowing us to continue increasing production of the products consumers are demanding most. Perhaps the most important milestone of the quarter wasn't reflected in any single financial metric. During the second quarter, we formally established the Ruger Business System. While the name is new, the objective is straightforward. The Ruger Business System establishes a common operating framework for how we plan, execute, measure performance, and continuously improve across the enterprise. It aligns our teams around common objectives, reinforces accountability, and creates a shared language for operational excellence across all of our facilities and functions.

Most importantly, it provides the structure necessary to execute both our annual operating plans and our long-term Ruger 2030 strategy. For shareholders, the Ruger business system should be viewed as an investment in growth and consistency. We know that the firearms market fluctuates, but our objective is to build an organization that can execute regardless of the macro environment. It's designed to improve the way we make decisions, solve problems, and execute across every part of the business to deliver predictive results each quarter. As we look forward to the back half of the year, I would like to walk us through our progress on the 2026 plan and the overall health of the business. Throughout the first six months, net sales were $299 million, a 12% increase over 2025. Cash generated from operations was up 39% during the period and totaled $36 million.

Sales of new products accounted for $81 million, or 29% of firearm sales for the period. As of June 27, 2026, our cash and short-term investments totaled $118 million. Our current ratio is 3.3 to 1, and we have no debt. Year-to-date, capital expenditures total $8 million. As we've mentioned before, we expect capital expenditures to total approximately $30 million for the year. In the first six months, we returned $3 million to our shareholders through the payment of quarterly dividends. Our priorities for the balance of 2026 remain unchanged. improving profitability through focusing on direct material cost, insourcing of components, and driving product premiumization. aligning factory capacity with demand by redeploying capital assets across locations that can better leverage our footprint, and cross-training employees to create flexibility across product lines. right-sizing the business to our future product portfolio by intentionally mapping product life cycles and roadmaps to meet consumer demand. carefully listening to voice of the customer feedback, innovating where possible, and exiting unprofitable platforms where demand is waning. increasing output on proven high-demand product lines by reducing bottleneck cycle times, increasing productivity through improved shop floor leadership, and where needed, leveraging existing capital with increased shifts.

Expanding into new markets through complete product ecosystems, increased accessory offerings, a broader international presence, and new market segments in domestic and international law enforcement and security. As I've stated before, these priorities are not short-term actions. They are foundational steps that position us for sustained growth. performance. There is still important work ahead. We believe the operational foundation we've built over the past year positions Ruger to execute more consistently, respond more effectively to market conditions, and create durable long-term value. I'd like to thank our employees for their commitment and execution throughout the quarter. Operator, can we please have the first question?.

We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow up. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster.

The first question is from the line of Mark Smith with Lake Street.

Your line is now open. Please go ahead. Hey, Todd, I wanted to ask a little bit about new products. If there was anything that fell off from kind of the new products list and in kind of your comfort level, as well as if there was anything that's kind of added in here, the mix within new products that's maybe driving ASP.

a little bit higher. Sure. Hey Mark. Um, yes, one real important factor on the, on the new products is if you remember, we only track things that have been launched in the past two years. And so in the second quarter, the gen two rifles rolled off. So think about that volume in terms of our total volume. Um, The good news is, Mark, is that we have a tremendous pipeline of new products. and not only in Gen2, but across the portfolio. And so really it's the timing of the roll off of those as we launch new products. The other thing I would tell you is, of the demand in Q2, we did postpone some product launches.

Just given demand of current products, we wanted to make sure we were fulfilling those products first before launching more.

And that maybe fits into my next question, which is, as we look at the back orders, units on back order up a fair amount here, walk us through kind of your comfort level, what.

Is that number your ability to hit and maybe reduce that number as we go forward? Yes, so a lot of work that we talked about just recently is really what we're doing to increase our volumes. And so a lot of work happening in the facilities, a lot of work around the product roadmaps, really understanding where that demand is, which lines and and what we can do to increase that production. So a lot of effort, if you remember Q1, we had the issues around some of the facilities having some snowstorms. lot of focus on increasing output in the short term in Q2 to catch up. We also had a number of 250th anniversary products that were launched in the quarter as well. And so chasing kind of that volume in the short term. And then we had a number of products that were launched in the quarter as well. And looking back to the back half of the year, Mark, really focusing on where do we have the most demand? What product lines are those on? And making sure that as we evaluate those lines, we're adding the appropriate people and also looking at additional shifts where it makes sense.

Okay, and if I could squeeze one more in. Sure. You talked a little bit about some capital allocation, use of cash here. I'm curious if any other insights that you can give us as we think about needs coming up.

in CapEx? Is there any investments that you guys need to make or maybe even plans of what you can do with excess cash? Sure. So, the next few years, Mark, as we stated, it really is trying to target that $30 million of CapEx, really that goes around additional capacity, innovation in terms of whether that's efficiency gains in the facilities through newer machines, thinking about going and migrating to mini cells, which we're starting to pilot in some of our facilities right now, which gives us a little bit more flexibility in terms of the types of machines we're buying, a little bit more fifth axis, if you will. So it gives us a little bit more flexibility in how we make product. And so that's some of the thought process around the $30 million target over the next few years. So really continuing to invest in the current business and the future product profiles. In terms of the cash position that we're in, I'm happy to report, we're hovering around that $118 million. As you know, being a long-term follower investor, we were very thoughtful around our capital deployment.

And so we're going to invest in the business first. That's the clear priority. Then we'll look at opportunities. of what else to do with that cash, whether that's, you know, if we feel our stock set at a lower point than we think it's worth, um, you know, we, we do have the ability to, to buy back stock. Um, We have looked at M&A, as you know, and we continue to evaluate where that could make sense. And then also just given the cyclicality of this business, we do like to have, you know, cash on hand to, you know, weather the storm, if you will, if anywhere to come. So we're feeling really good with where we are and we'll continue to treat our capital from our investors very, very thoughtfully.

Perfect. Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks, Mark. Your next question is from the line of Romel Dioncio with Aegis Capital. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Todd, you just alluded to possibly delaying some of the new product launches just to help get you through the strong demand in the current period. Well, that ask you for too much. Guys, could you like how how how much are we delaying them to next year or just, you know, question, you know, a few months, how should we kind of think about these next few months and quarters for the pace of new product introductions? Thank you.

thanks. Really, I would say it's in the short term, really looking at, for instance, on Gen 2, I'm given the current demand of those calibers heading into hunting season, you know, we didn't feel it appropriate to add new products to that. Where we have lines that share production, we would make sure that we're not introducing new products or new parts to those lines. So really, I would call it a shorter term focus, Ramal, in terms of that prioritization. of what we introduce, that's kind of how we're thinking about it.

Okay, and just maybe dovetailing with that, should we think about then capital expenditures moving possibly more into the full year? I know you reiterated the $30 million number for the full year, but should we think about that maybe moving more kind of fourth quarter loaded as opposed to third quarter loaded,.

the change in the cadence of new product interactions, or does that not really matter for the time? Yes, it's a little bit based on the calendar. Typically what happens is a lot of the projects are green lighted the fourth quarter of the prior year, we get traction in the first quarter. And then in terms of the actual investment and the spending of dollars that happens typically towards the end. And so a lot of it happens after the middle of the year. And so you'll see that kind of happening over Q3 and Q4. Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Thank you.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Todd Souffitt, CEO for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you again for joining us today and for your continued investment in Ruger. The progress we've made during the first half of the year gives us confidence that we're building a stronger, more agile Ruger while remaining focused on delivering value for our customers, employees, and shareholders. We look forward to talking again next quarter. Thanks.

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

This live transcript is auto-generated without human intervention or review.

[Call has ended.]

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us, and welcome to Sturm, Ruger & Co.'s 2026 Q1 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions]

I'll now hand the conference over to Todd Seyfert, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, Todd.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Sturm, Ruger & Company's First Quarter 2026 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 General Counsel, for the caution on forward-looking statements.

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.

Thank you, Sarah. There's a lot for me to comment on from the quarter. But before I get into the financials, I would like to step through a few recent news items from the past few weeks.

First, as we ended the quarter, we announced the appointment of Andrew Wieland as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, following the planned transition of Tom to me. We are excited for Andrew to join our team in this capacity and look forward to his leadership in the continued execution of Ruger's long-term plan.

I would like to thank Tom for his many years of dedicated service and financial stewardship. As I stated in our announcement, we are grateful for Tom's leadership over the last three decades and wish him the very best in his next chapter. He will be noticeably missed from this call.

Additionally, I want to acknowledge the announcement of our strategic cooperation agreement with Beretta Holding, our largest shareholder. After months of constructive dialogue, we have reached a cooperation agreement with Beretta Holding that avoids a proxy contest and ensures we remain focused on running and growing our business.

This outcome reflects our commitment to act in the best interest of all Ruger shareholders while bringing in a significant investor with deep industry knowledge and a shared focus on our success. This agreement provides stability, removes distraction and allows us to move forward with clarity as we execute our 2026 plan and continue building toward our long-term strategy.

Lastly, I would like to comment on a situation that occurred Monday with the New York Stock Exchange. Unfortunately and unexpectedly, the exchange inadvertently disclosed information related to our dividend prior to our earnings release this afternoon. So that there is no confusion, we immediately filed an 8-K regarding this event.

Now let me walk through the financials for the quarter. Net sales for the quarter increased 4% to $141 million compared with $136 million in the prior year period. Diluted earnings were $0.01 per share compared to $0.46 per share in the corresponding period of 2025. On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of expenses related to the strategic cooperation agreement with Beretta Holding and organizational changes implemented in February, diluted earnings for the quarter were $0.27 per share.

In the first quarter, we generated $19 million of cash from operations. Year-to-date, capital expenditures totaled $5 million. The company expects capital expenditures to total $30 million for the year for continued investments in new product introductions, expanded capacity for product lines in greatest demand, upgraded manufacturing capabilities and strengthened facility infrastructure.

On March 28, 2026, our cash and short-term investments totaled $105 million. Our short-term investments are in United States treasury bills and in a money market fund that invests exclusively in United States treasury instruments, which mature within one year. Our current ratio is 3.5:1, and we have no debt.

In the first quarter of 2026, we returned $1.3 million to our shareholders through the payment of a quarterly dividend. The company announced that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.11 per share for the first quarter for shareholders of record as of May 14, 2026, payable on May 29, 2026. This dividend equates to approximately 40% of net income.

As you can see, Q1 marks our fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year top line sales growth, a clear indication that the actions we've taken over the past year are gaining traction. We continue to outperform the broader market as measured by a sales increase of 3.2% versus only a 1.6% increase in adjusted NICS, reinforcing that our strategy is not only working internally but resonating with consumers.

For the period, units ordered increased 28% to 525,000 units versus 410,000 units for the same period last year. Correspondingly, our backlog of $330 million exceeded the $275 million for the same period in 2025, an increase of 20% year-over-year. A key driver of this performance is the strength of our innovation and new product launches. Demand for our newest offerings remains exceptionally strong, particularly those introduced over the past two quarters, including additional models of the American Generation II Rifle, the Glenfield Rifles, Harrier rifles, the Red Label III shotgun and the RXM pistol. This momentum is reflected in the fact that new products accounted for $51.6 million, representing 41% of total firearm sales in the quarter, a meaningful indicator of both innovation and consumer relevance.

At the same time, we made measurable progress on profitability. Through disciplined operational cost reductions and improved execution, we have now delivered continued improvement of adjusted operating profit over the past four quarters.

While we still have work to do, the trend is clear. We are building a more efficient and more profitable business. Taken together, these results reinforce that we are moving in the right direction. Our 2026 plan, aligned with our broader Ruger 2030 strategy, is taking hold across the organization, from product development to operations to go-to-market execution.

Our focus remains unchanged: improve profitability, align factory capacity with demand, right-size the business to our future product portfolio, increase output on proven high-demand product lines, and expand into new markets through complete product ecosystems and accessory offerings, not just stand-alone models. As I have stated before, these priorities are not short-term actions. They are foundational steps that position us for sustained performance.

This year is pivotal in laying the groundwork for Ruger 2030, our long-term framework built on profitable expansion, product innovation and agile responsiveness. With that said, during the quarter, we did incur certain nonrecurring expenses, including approximately $3.2 million in costs associated with the Beretta agreement, $2.5 million related to a reduction in force in February and $1.7 million in a one-time expense related to the accrual of retention awards. We also experienced temporary production disruptions due to severe weather impacting our Newport and Mayodan facilities, creating a shortfall of roughly 30,000 units in the quarter compared to Q1 of 2025. While these events created some near-term headwinds, they do not change our underlying trajectory or reflect the underlying performance of the business.

Looking ahead to the current quarter, our priorities are clear. First, recover production shortfalls from Q1. Second, to meet strong demand while rebuilding both our internal and distributor inventories, which were drawn down amid improving market conditions. And third, to meaningfully expand our accessory offerings, an important step in building out our product ecosystems.

We are excited about the future. We are aligned on our strategy, confident in our direction, encouraged by our recent performance and energized by the opportunity in front of us. At the same time, we remain appropriately cautious as we monitor the broader macroeconomic environment, particularly as pressure on discretionary income continues to impact consumer behavior.

In closing, we are executing against our plan, seeing tangible results and remain committed to delivering long-term value for our shareholders. Thank you for your time and continued support of Ruger.

Operator, can we please have the first question?

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from the line of Mark Smith at Lake Street.

Just wanted to ask a little bit on the one-time items here in Q1. Just as we think about the potential proxy fights with Beretta, what maybe we could expect for one-time-ish expenses as we roll into Q2?

Mark, good question. Listen, we just finalized the deal in the last few days. And so our expectation is obviously that the run rate will come down quickly. We obviously have some work to do between now and the annual meeting. And so a majority of those costs will run through by the end of May. And so we'll continue to have some costs, but we're seeing the end of that and look forward to cutting those off and moving the business forward.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Todd for closing remarks.

Thank you. Well, thank you again for joining us today and for your continued support and confidence in Ruger. We look forward to speaking to all of you again next quarter.

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

Good afternoon. My name is Miriam, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Sturm, Ruger & Company's Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I will now hand the conference over to Todd Seyfert, President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Seyfert, please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Sturm, Ruger & Company's Fourth Quarter and Year-end 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 General Counsel, for the caution on forward-looking statements.

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.

Thank you, Sarah. As we close out 2025, it is important to recognize the environment we've been operating in. Overall, it was a difficult year for the firearms industry and for consumer durables more broadly. Inflationary pressures, discretionary spending constraints and a normalization of demand following several historically elevated years have all created headwinds throughout the market.

At the same time, 2025 was a year of significant change at Ruger. Exactly 1 year ago, I started as CEO. Since then, I've been working with the leadership team to prepare the company for the future. These efforts included a top to bottom review of the business, strengthening of our product pipeline, capacity expansion in Hebron, Kentucky, increased CapEx commitments, and inventory rationalization and product repositioning. I'm proud of how our team has finished the year.

Industry-wide data confirms that 2025 was a challenging year for our sector, yet the estimated sell-through of our products through distribution increased 4.5% from 2024 despite a 4.1% decrease in adjusted NICS during the same period. Against that backdrop, we also delivered top line growth versus 2024, introduced meaningful innovation and closed the year with strong underlying demand. We believe this speaks directly to the resilience of our business model and the competitive differentiation the Ruger brand provides.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Tom Dineen, our Chief Financial Officer, to walk through our financial results for the year. Tom?

Thanks, Todd. Net sales for the quarter increased 3.6% to $151 million compared with $146 million in the prior year period. Diluted earnings were $0.21 per share compared to $0.62 per share in the corresponding period of 2024. For the full year of 2025, net sales increased 1.9% to $546 million compared with $536 million in the full year 2024. The company reported a net loss of $0.27 per share compared to diluted earnings of $1.77 per share in the prior year.

On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of expenses related to shareholder rights issue and the transition of senior leadership, diluted earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $0.26 per share. In addition to the aforementioned fourth quarter expenses, in the second quarter of 2025, the company rationalized and price-repositioned several product lines, reduced the number of models offered and implemented an organizational realignment, which adversely impacted the results of operations for 2025. On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of these nonrecurring expenses, diluted earnings for 2025 were $0.84 per share. On an adjusted basis, excluding the reduction in [indiscernible] expense of $1.5 million and expenses related to the Chief Executive Officer search and transition, diluted earnings for 2024 were $1.86.

On December 31, 2025, our cash and short-term investments totaled $93 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 1 year. Our current ratio is 3.9:1, and we have no debt.

In the fourth quarter, we generated $16 million of cash from operations. For the full year, we generated $54 million. In 2025, capital expenditures totaled $31 million, including $15 million for the Anderson acquisition in Hebron, Kentucky.

In 2025, we returned $36 million to our shareholders through the payment of $10 million of quarterly dividends and $26 million through the repurchase of 733,000 shares of our common stock at an average price of $35.60 per share. The company announced that it's Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.08 per share for the fourth quarter for shareholders of record at of March 16, 2026, payable on March 31, 2026. This dividend equates to 40% of net income.

Now, back to you, Todd.

Thanks, Tom. Overall, 2025 was an encouraging year for Ruger, especially in a challenging environment and with tremendous change across the organization. Our top line growth was due to our product innovation. During the fourth quarter alone, we launched 65 new models, including 3 entirely new platforms: the Glenfield by Ruger rifle, the Red Label III shotgun and the Harrier rifle. In addition, we continue to expand the American Rifle Gen II family and the RXM lineup. These were not simply line extensions, they represent deliberate investments in category leadership and brand expansion. The response from consumers and retailers has been strong, and this level of product activity reflects our ability to outperform the broader market at a time when overall industry demand declined.

The strength of our product road maps carried us through 2025, but product momentum alone will not create sustainable value. That is what our 2026 plan is designed to accomplish. First, in what we expect to remain a flat to down industry environment, sustaining top line performance and protecting market share remains a priority. In a contracting market, share matters, and we like our competitive position. We are not managing for short-term volatility. We are managing for growth.

Second, we are focused on expanding operating margins through disciplined cost alignment and structural efficiency, one that reflects the business we are building. This is about sustainable profitability, not temporary expense reductions. Third, innovation remains central to our strategy. In addition to innovation in our current product lineup, we plan to launch multiple new firearm platforms designed to strengthen our category leadership and expand our relevance with both core and emerging consumers. These innovations and expansions are not incremental. They represent meaningful steps forward in product performance and market positioning.

At the same time, we are expanding our accessory ecosystem across top platforms. Accessories drive higher margins, deepen customer engagement and enhance overall value for the consumer. This is a natural extension of our brand and an important lever for profitable expansion. We expect to refresh our accessories offering throughout this year, setting us up for growth in the future.

Operationally, we are increasing production capacity and allocating capital to proven product lines where demand is strong. Taken together, these priorities reinforce our commitment to profitable expansion, disciplined capital allocation and agile responsiveness, the pillars of our Ruger 2030 strategy. With the plan we have in place and the executional discipline we've exhibited across the organization, I am confident in our position and our trajectory.

Now, before we move to questions, I wanted to highlight that last week, Ruger welcomed 3 new members to the Board of Directors that bring deep operational, manufacturing, capital allocation and governance expertise, all capabilities that are directly aligned with the priorities we've outlined today. As of our annual meeting, the Board will comprise 9 directors, 8 of whom are independent and 5 of whom have joined within the past year. This refresh was a result of a several year process focused on strengthening the Board with senior executive leadership experience in comparable businesses and adding complementary perspectives to support oversight of our long-term strategy to maximize shareholder value.

As we execute our 2026 plan and continue advancing Ruger 2030, it is critical that our Board continues to have the experience necessary to oversee operational excellence, disciplined capital allocation and long-term profitable growth. Throughout this process, the Board engaged directly with a broad cross-section of shareholders, including our largest shareholders.

With that said, we are aware of Beretta Holding's recent proxy proposal regarding Board composition at Ruger. Beretta is a significant shareholder, and we respect that shareholders have the right to express their views and participate in our governance process. At the same time, the Board has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of all shareholders and to ensure that governance decisions support the long-term performance, stability and independence of a company. We remain confident that our current Board composition reflects the right mix of independence, expertise and strategic alignment to oversee the execution of our plan.

In closing, our brand remains strong. Our top line performance continues to reflect our competitive strength, and we have a clear plan to continue to improve our profitability and secure our success through our 2026 plan.

Thank you for your time and your continued support of Ruger. Operator, can we please have the first question?

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Mark Smith of Lake Street.

I wanted to ask a little bit at first here just about kind of your success on sell-through versus mix checks during the year. Can you just walk through kind of how much new products had to do with driving that and other things that kind of drove positive sales results?

Mark, yes, absolutely. Listen, I think our Q4, as we track new products as a percent of our sales, which we define as introduced in the last 2 years, we came in at 35%. So I would tell you absolutely that our focus on new product and new product placement is resonating with our customers and not only our distributors, but the sell-through at retail. And so, we're very, very bullish about how we ended the year in terms of those introductions, and we're seeing good demand as we start the year here in 2026.

Okay. And then, I want to walk through just gross profit margin here. It came up kind of sequentially over the last couple of quarters. But just thoughts on kind of where you're seeing pressure in gross profit margin and things that can be done to kind of try to drive that higher?

So I think, Mark, obviously, we continue to look at the footprint, our operations and the product lines. And so we're going to continue to invest in the lines where we have demand in excess of capacity, and that's what we're doing. And at the same time, where we see some legacy lines coming down and demand waning, making sure that we have that transition appropriate, and we're taking those headcounts and aligning them with where we have demand going forward. And that's going to continue through 2026, making sure that we're aligning those resources with the lines that have the most opportunity and the most demand at the retail sector. And you're going to see us continue to focus on the margin side of the business throughout 2026.

The other part of this, Mark, as you know, when you have new product introductions, new product introductions typically mean you're able to sell at a higher price. And so, the combination of the focus on the business and the costs, as well as continued introductions with pricing, those are the 2 things that we're focused on for '26.

Okay. Is there anything within Hebron that can help kind of drive that margin higher?

Absolutely. So we're actually -- I'm glad you asked that, Mark. We're actually sitting here in Hebron today, management team focused on what we've been doing here. We started shipping products out of Hebron in the last week of the year. They've been very well received in the market. And we're actually in the process of what we came into the year with in terms of what we thought our plan was for production and sales for the year. We've already increased that based on the response. And so, we're in the process of increasing both headcount and output here as we speak in Hebron and look forward to this being a very important part of the business as we move forward.

Perfect. And then, the last one for me is fairly broad, but I'm just curious if you could give us your thoughts around kind of consumer demand trends here early on in 2026, what you're seeing and how you feel like your products maybe match up with the demand?

We're seeing good results. I would tell you that the information that we get from some of our partners shows that we're having a great start to the year relative to last year. I think a lot of this, as you know, has to do with the new product introductions. We introduced more than 65 over the past few months. They're resonating with both our distributors and our retailers, but most importantly, they're resonating with the consumer, and that's our focus. And so, we're very excited about the start to the year and look forward to, again, really focusing on investments where we have demand in excess of our capacity.

Your next question comes from the line of Thomas Forte of Maxim Group.

I have 3 questions. I'll go one at a time. On the accessories efforts, is it all selling to existing customers? Or to what extent, if at all, does it expand your customer base?

Thomas, so twofold. So it's a combination. So we're looking at the -- around our major product platforms on the firearms, what are the accessories that make sense for us to be doing ourselves, and we're focusing on that, and that will go through our traditional 2-step distribution. What's a little bit different is, we're actually working with our distributor partners to have a more in-depth conversation with their retail partners to ensure we understand what the opportunities are, what that mix of product looks like that resonates with that consumer at that retailer. And so, we expect to see an increase in doors where Ruger accessories are sold in the coming months.

Excellent. And then, for my second question, can you talk about your efforts to right-size the business, in particular, also your ability to ramp production in the event of future increases in demand?

Yes. So we continually are monitoring our facilities. And again, back to our -- some of the work we've done in the last year on product rationalization, looking at where we have capacity and where we do not have capacity and aligning those 2 things together. So for instance, we think about some of our major product lines like the Gen II rifle, like Marlin, like 10/22, like RXM, where we're seeing increased demand. We're focusing on both a -- is it an equipment capacity investment or is it headcount? And I will tell you, it's a combination of both. And so, where we can, we're adding shifts to increase output. And in some cases, Thomas, we're adding some capacity through CapEx investments to increase output. And so, we're looking at both of those across all 4 of our gun facilities and making sure that we have the right alignment of those resources at each facility.

Wonderful. And then, last question. Can you provide your current thoughts on capital allocation, including investing in the business, paying dividends, buying back shares and strategic M&A?

Yes. So we have a very thoughtful capital allocation policy. And because of our balance sheet and our cash situation, number one, we're going to look at where we can invest in the business on a day-to-day basis to increase output. So that's first and foremost. Secondly, in this market, we're going to be very thoughtful on M&A. We're going to be very strategic and very opportunistic, much like the Anderson acquisition. And so, that -- those things happen all on their own. And so, we're being very thoughtful about what we're looking at and what we're seeing. But we're going to be very careful about what we do in terms of M&A and be opportunistic.

In terms of share buyback, that comes down to a conversation of what's the best use of cash. And I would tell you, right now, given our product road map, Thomas, I would say the best use of cash is to continue to invest in our new products because they're resonating with the consumer.

Your final question comes from the line of Rommel Dionisio of Aegis Capital.

Todd, in response to another question, you talked about new product launches having a higher margin. And I definitely understand, over the long term, that would very much be true. Just looking at your new product launches, though, we see this 10/22, this new line of 10/22 rifles and obviously exciting new line. But I would imagine that would be a somewhat lower margin given the value price. But how should we think about product mix going into 2026 as perhaps being a negative? Or I realize the products like the American Gen II Scout and so forth at a higher price point. But yes, how should we think about product mix perhaps being a negative or a positive in 2026?

Sure. Thanks, Rommel. I think really, you think about it 2 different ways. When we have a new line and we introduce that line like the 10/22 revamp that we did, what you'll see initially is, as we get those products into production and we get to full rate, we tend to have lower margins to start, and we increase those margins over time. And that's happened for years here at Ruger. So we have some of that in the refresh of 10/22. But more importantly, things like Gen II and Marlin, where we did take price this year, we continue to see strong demand, as well as we were able to take some pricing actions on those major lines in 2026. So it will be a combination. There are some short-term ramp-up costs, but more importantly, the longer term on our lines with the most demand, we were able to see some nice pricing that was passed through this year.

Okay. And while we have you, can you share some anecdotal feedback from SHOT Show and the early part of the year with regards to the new products?

Yes, absolutely. So SHOT Show was fantastic. We were able to have the products there, not only show them, but shipping them. And so, what we try to do, as you know, Rommel, is to make sure that when we launch a product, we actually have inventory not only at Ruger, but at our distributors so that we can immediately get into the retail channel. So the feedback was very good. Most of what we heard is in terms of the amount of new products that we had. Ruger, most of our customers thought we had the broadest selection of new products and the most depth of new products. And then, even into last week, Rommel, I was over in Europe at the Enforce Tac Show, which is a law enforcement and military show, as well as the IWA Show, which is the international version of SHOT Show. And I think the consistent message was, we continue to innovate, which then brings share gain, if you will, in those major product categories. And our customers overseas, again, just want us to ensure that they can get more product allocated to them because they're seeing the sell-through internationally as well. So not just both here what we do in the U.S., but the feedback is very strong across the globe with our international distributors. So we're very happy about where we sit coming into the year and with what we have already introduced and what's coming.

There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Seyfert, I turn the call back over to you.

Well, thank you all again for joining us today and for your continued support and confidence in Sturm, Ruger & Company. We look forward to talking to all of you again next quarter.

This concludes today's call. You may now disconnect.

Good morning, and welcome Sturm, Ruger & Company's Third 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.

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.

Thanks, Sarah. This quarter's results reflect both the realities of a challenging market and the early progress we're making as we continue to execute the strategic plan we began earlier this year. The broader market continues to face headwinds from tariff and interest rate uncertainty, inflationary pressures and a softening job market, all of which are affecting discretionary consumer spending and manufacturing costs.

The firearms market is experiencing similar pressures. The overall market trending down 10% to 15% this year, while NICS checks, often used as a proxy for the market, down roughly 4% year-to-date versus 2024. Additionally, the market continues to be influenced by the availability of used firearms at retail. Despite these challenges, I am pleased with our top line performance for the quarter where we achieved year-over-year sales growth.

As we continue to make progress on our strategic plan, we are actively focused on key operational initiatives and innovation activities. As top line performance trends upward, these disciplined actions are critical to accelerating return to sustained profitability and enhancing long-term success.

Now Tom Dineen, our Chief Financial Officer, will take us through the financial results for the quarter.

Thanks, Todd. Net sales for the quarter were $126.8 million and diluted earnings were $0.10 per share. For the corresponding period in 2024, net sales were $122.3 million and diluted earnings were $0.28 per share.

On a pretax basis, the company lost $2.1 million in the third quarter of 2025, driven by $1.9 million of acquisition and operating costs at the new Hebron, Kentucky facility that was acquired in July, increased costs associated with material and technology and increased sales promotional expenses.

During the third quarter of 2025, we revised our estimated annual effective income tax rate for 2025, and recognized a $3 million increase to our year-to-date income tax benefit. This increased third quarter net income by $0.19 per share. Without this increase, our EPS would have been a loss of $0.09 per share.

For the 9 months ended September 27, 2025, net sales were $395 million, and the company lost $0.48 per share. For the corresponding period in 2024, net sales were $389.9 million and diluted earnings were $1.15 per share.

In the second quarter of 2025, the company rationalized and price repositioned several product lines, reduced the number of models offered and implemented an organizational realignment, which adversely impacted the results of operations for the 9 months ended September 27, 2025.

On an adjusted basis, excluding the impact of these nonrecurring expenses, diluted earnings for the 9 months ended September 27, 2025, were $0.65 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 9 months ended September 28, 2024, were $1.22.

On September 27, 2025, our cash and short-term investments totaled $81 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 1 year. On September 27, 2025, our current ratio was 3.5:1, and we had no debt.

In the third quarter, we generated $13 million of cash from operations. In the first 9 months, we generated $39 million of cash. Year-to-date, capital expenditures totaled $28 million, including $15 million for the Anderson acquisition in Hebron, Kentucky. The company expects capital expenditures to total $35 million for the year for continued investments in new product introductions, expanded capacity for product lines in greatest demand, upgraded manufacturing capabilities and strengthened facility infrastructure.

For the third quarter, we returned $13 million to our shareholders through the payment of $3 million of quarterly dividends and $10 million through the repurchase of 288,000 shares of our common stock at an average cost of $34.33 per share.

In the first 9 months of 2025, we returned $36 million to our shareholders through the payment of $10 million of quarterly dividends and $26 million through the repurchase of 731,000 shares of our common stock at an average cost of $35.60 per share. The company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.04 per share for the third quarter for stockholders of record as of November 17, 2025, payable on November 28, 2025. This dividend is approximately 40% of net income.

Now back to you, Todd.

Thanks, Tom. When I stepped into the CEO role earlier this year, we began a comprehensive assessment of our operations and a full review of our product portfolio. Those activities continued into the third quarter where we realized top line growth from many of the actions taken in the second quarter while identifying additional opportunities to strengthen our foundation moving forward.

Operationally, we are executing several key initiatives designed to improve efficiency and profitability across the organization. This quarter, we advanced into the next phase of that work with a rigorous evaluation of product line performance, conducting detailed line-by-line reviews of our portfolio and assessing profitability facility by facility to ensure our resources are deployed where they create the greatest value. This includes realigning our manufacturing footprint to maximize efficiency and reduce costs by balancing production lines across facilities to improve delivery and resource utilization. At the same time, we continue our product line analysis and rationalization to ensure that every product earns its place in our lineup and every facility operates efficiently and accountably.

A great example of this is our newest facility in Hebron, Kentucky, which we acquired in July of this year. Following our product line review, we identified the need for additional capacity to support our modern sporting rifle category. We purchased Anderson to provide that capacity, which in turn freed up capacity in Maiden for one of our most in-demand products, the second-generation Ruger American Rifle. With the additional resources in Hebron, we are actively working to in-source components that were previously purchased, a move that will improve our cost structure, shorten lead times and give us greater control over quality and delivery.

Additionally, product innovation continues to be the most important factor in remaining successful in a tough economic market. As I've said before, our greatest opportunities lie in delivering new relevant products that resonate with consumers and position us for sustained growth. For the quarter, new product sales accounted for $41 million or 34% of net firearms sales, which reinforces the popularity of our innovative products.

As always, new product sales include only major new products that were introduced in the past 2 years. These are high-demand platforms that continue to resonate with customers across a variety of segments, including the award-winning RXM pistol, a modular polymer-frame striker-fired pistol developed in collaboration with Magpul. The second-generation Ruger American Rifle, an update to the American-made rifle that has been the benchmark for accuracy, durability and performance in bolt-action rifles for over a decade. Marlin lever-action rifles, which remain a staple for collectors, hunters and traditional enthusiasts. The Ruger 10/22 with carbon fiber barrel, a lightweight model featuring a stainless steel tensioned barrel with a carbon fiber sleeve. And the fourth-generation Ruger Precision Rifle, refined through years of feedback from competitive shooters.

With that said, our pipeline remains strong and demand for new products continues throughout the channel. In Q3, we made meaningful progress to position ourselves for success in the future. Already in October, we have reintroduced Glenfield Firearms, an iconic value brand that offers hunters of all experience levels with a no nonsense American-made rifle; expanded the second-generation Ruger American Rifle line with the Prairie and Patrol models, the first Ruger American Rifles featuring a heavy barrel; and broadened Marlin caliber offerings with the launch of the first-ever 10-millimeter lever-action rifle in the market. These launches build on our most successful product families, and we're just getting started.

Looking ahead, the coming months will bring even greater opportunity, including building out the popular RXM pistol family with new grip frames, sizes, accessories and configurations; launching a new line of modern sporting rifles manufactured in our Hebron facility; and bringing back the classic Ruger Red Label shotgun, making us once again a full-line manufacturer of firearms.

As you can see, Ruger is well positioned for continued success. We remain focused on building a stronger, more agile company, one that consistently delivers value to our customers, employees and shareholders. I'm encouraged by the progress we've made and excited about what's ahead.

With that said, we continue to take a disciplined and thoughtful approach to capital allocation, ensuring that every dollar deployed serves a clear strategic purpose and creates long-term shareholder value.

Our priorities remain unchanged: maintain a strong debt-free balance sheet, invest in core product innovation and operational efficiency and return capital to shareholders responsibly. This disciplined capital approach ensures the company has the flexibility to invest when opportunities arise while continuing to reward shareholders over time. Ruger's future success will be measured by improved returns for our shareholders, and we are taking the right steps to get there, building a company designed for long-term strength rather than short-term reactions.

Thank you for your time, continued support and confidence in Ruger. Operator, can we please have the first question?

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Mark Smith with Lake Street.

I wanted to ask first just about gross profit margin and what was kind of putting downward pressure on gross profit margin here in the quarter, if it was a mix issue or if there's still some of the transformation things that are putting some pressure on gross profit margin this quarter.

Before I answer that, just apologies. It sounds like we had some technical difficulties with the video this morning, which we encourage you to go to the website. It will be posted after the call today. But there's a lot of good content there. So again, apologies for the issues for those of you that couldn't access it or see it this morning.

So with that, Mark, in terms of margins, really, it's a combination of things. I would tell you, it's not a lot of the things that we saw in Q2. It's more about some of the volumes. And really, the biggest thing I would say is the Hebron, Kentucky, the work that we're doing there to get that facility up and ready for production. And so we had about $1.4 million of costs associated with that facility without any revenue coming out of it. And so that's really the driver. We continue to go through our product line rationalization and our SKU consolidation, but you're not seeing a lot of that in the quarter.

Okay. And I did want to ask about Hebron on just kind of an update on where you're at in getting that facility up and running and production in that facility.

Absolutely. We're making great progress, Mark. Our goal was to be in production with firearms by year-end, and we're on pace for that target still.

Okay. Perfect. And then can you just talk a little bit about mix and price. As we think about -- it looks like sales price on orders received was down a decent amount as well as some of the items that were shipped, but very good production and units shipped. But I'm curious just kind of where your mix came in if RXM had maybe higher mix at a lower-priced item. And then I'd love to hear your thoughts on -- as we think about the new line coming out here of Glenfield and kind of your thoughts around mix and price and how that fits within the strategy.

Absolutely. So I think really the way to think about it in the quarter, Mark, was heavy LCP orders and shipments. We did do a program. And so that was a thoughtful program in terms of the quarter. And so that's really the driver within the quarter. When we talk about the Glenfield expansion, that's actually an opportunity for us in terms of the facility in Newport. What we did there, Mark, is, as you know, that the original American Generation -- American Gen I Rifle was produced in that facility. It's been produced for over a decade, fantastic entrance for Ruger into the bolt-action marketplace, affordable quality, value. As we pivoted to the Gen II Rifle, obviously, there was some confusion in the market, why are you still producing both. So a decision was made.

Listen, when we bought Marlin, we acquired the assets and the trademarks for Glenfield. So what we did is we said, listen, we've got this opportunity, we've got this capacity. Let's go ahead and figure out how we enter at a new price point where Ruger hasn't played, round out the product offering, good, better, best, and that's where we came out with the Glenfield. And so that will be produced on upgraded machinery and equipment on the Gen I line, we're in production as we speak. And I will tell you that the acceptance in the marketplace has been fantastic.

Perfect. And I think the last one for me. Just curious about kind of steel and other input prices, where they're at and any pressure on margins that we maybe have seen from rising input prices?

Yes. I would say fairly flat. The good news is, is we had some -- we bought ahead in terms of supply, in terms of how much we had on hand, Mark, with some of the uncertainty. So that helped us a little bit. There is some noise around aluminum right now. Obviously, with the continued tariff uncertainty, we're positioning ourselves to be reactive to whatever is happening. And as you know, following this, it seems to be either by the day or by the week, we're seeing new information. And so we track it very closely, but not a significant amount of pressure on our costs to date.

And our next question comes from the line of Rommel Dionisio with Aegis Capital.

Two questions. One, if I could just follow up to Mark's question on the Glenfield line. How do you guys think about the positioning of that brand and that product line going forward to not cannibalize existing sales of like Marlin or the other products that you have in place? Is it more just a pricing issue? Or is there kind of a different demographic you're targeting with that new product line, or sorry, revamped or rejuvenated product line for Glenfield that's got a heritage brand there.

And the second would be on the Patrol line you just announced. I wonder if you -- is that towards law enforcement? I wonder if you could just give us some granularity on the type of consumer you're targeting with those two products?

Sure. Absolutely. So back to Glenfield first, Rommel, really, the whole idea around Glenfield was as we stratify our product line, we have the Marlin at the top of the pyramid, we have Ruger in the middle, and we didn't really have kind of the "opening price point." And so that is where Glenfield will play. It will be kind of the first gun. It will be the value to get into the Ruger brand and the Ruger company.

And so our thought there was, again, we didn't have products at that price point. And so we created a variant of the Gen I with improved features and benefits at a price point that the Gen II does not play at. And so really focusing on attracting a new segment of the market, that's where we're focused on. And we're not cannibalizing anything because we don't have anything else near that price point. And so to us, this is kind of greenfield new opportunity, white space in the market.

When it comes to the Patrol rifle, that's really a name. It's really not law enforcement focus, Rommel. It's really a variant of the incredibly successful Gen II. We've never had a heavy barrel version of the Gen I or Gen II to date. And so this really opens up that product line into categories in the marketplace that we have not gone to yet in terms of the Gen II rifle. So it's really a new variant, not focused on law enforcement, really focused on kind of that Western hunting general all around consumer, if you will.

Our next question comes from the line of James Kostell with Cuyahoga Capital.

Sorry, we had a little technical problem there. Yes, two unrelated issues. Firstly, 1976 was the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Next year will be the 250th. And '76, Ruger imprinted on the barrels made in the 200th year of Liberty. And will you be doing something, a similar promotion for next year? And it's my perception when I go to sporting goods stores that in the aftermarket, firearms with that imprint on them trade at a premium. And do you agree with that? Furthermore, if you're going to be doing a promotion of this sort and you compare it to what happened in 1976 versus 1975, can you give us an idea of what sort of increase in unit volume you saw back then and perhaps may see next year?

Well, first off, thanks for remembering what we did, and we're excited about it. So we're in the process right now evaluating what is possible across the product families. As you know, technology has changed, our volumes increased. And so we got to be thoughtful about how we would imprint and what lines. And so we're going through that analysis. There will be something. We're just not exactly sure which and how many.

And then in terms of the premium that we see in the marketplace, we have seen when Ruger does special make ups or special builds that it does create a premium in the marketplace, and we believe that helps build the brand over time. And so we're very happy and very excited when we can do these things because it does give that consumer, that Ruger consumer that's used to these special types of firearms and other options to come in and buy another Ruger. So we're excited about that very much.

In terms of kind of the other, the last question. It's a little bit more about -- we have to be a little bit careful about forward-looking statements and what we can and can't say. But I will tell you, again, we're very excited about next year. We're excited about the opportunity for the country and the brand and how we bring those two things together.

Can you help me with what unit volumes did in 1976 versus '75 and kind of what happened there?

Gee, I can't off the top of my head to be honestly. I wish I anticipated this question and I could have helped you out. But I don't have those numbers at my fingertips.

Okay. Second unrelated issue. You're going to reintroduce the Red Label. Do you -- I mean, is that somehow related to your new large shareholder, which is sort of the elephant in the room?

No, actually. It really is, for us, upon my arrival, we have really talked about the product families and where Ruger is and where Ruger wants to go. And it was really important to all of us in the company to become, once again, a full-line firearms manufacturer. And the one area that we were missing was the shotgun market. And so really, it's our way back to being the only full-line manufacturer of firearms, and that was the impetus for the reintroduction, as well as I'm a big shotgunner and I'm excited about it as well personally, so.

Well, I mean, looking at it across the industry, SKB as an example, and Mossberg both import their target guns, I think, mostly from Turkey. I mean do you -- would you have a problem with somebody else manufacturing the gun and you're selling it under the Ruger name?

No, we wouldn't. Ours are U.S. made. So that's I think the differentiator for us and what Ruger is trying to do is we stand behind, we're very proud that we're a U.S. manufacturer of firearms and we'll continue to be that. Obviously, if an opportunity came up, it's something -- obviously, if it makes sense for the business and it makes sense for our shareholders, we would look at it. But our focus right now is building guns here in the U.S.

So you think the Beretta interest had nothing to do with the Red Label?

That was -- these things happened way, way before the Beretta investment in Ruger. So this was on our road map. This is something that the company had been working toward, and we're at the point now where we're ready for it to launch, and we're ready to have guns, which we are launching here shortly. so.

Would you have any update on the Beretta situation that you'd like to share with us?

I mean I think the answer is, listen, we appreciate their investment and confidence in our company. We reported in our press release last month that we issued a shareholder rights plan to kind of preserve the status quo, what we try to engage. And we're happy to engage with anybody that wants to have a conversation. And so we're a public company. We're always for sale, and we look forward to engaging with them when they're right.

I'm showing no further questions. So with that, I'll hand the call back over to President and CEO, Todd Seyfert, for any closing remarks.

Thanks, everyone. We appreciate your attention. Again, apologies on the video. Please go to the website. The team did a great job putting that video together, a lot of good content. We appreciate your investment in Ruger and your trust, and we look forward to speaking to you next quarter.