Vista Outdoor: $1 Billion Back Log of Orders & Record-Breaking Profits

If you have found it difficult to find ammunition this year to go shooting recreationally, have encountered struggles in finding defense rounds, or even cannot get ammo to go hunting, you are not alone. Aside from all the chaos surrounding the Coronavirus and a national political circus, the firearms community is seeing unprecedented demand for firearms and ammunition – as overused as that word, unprecedented, is its true. One of the biggest winners in this ammunition crisis has been Vista Outdoor as they own Federal Premium, CCI, Speer, and Remington ammo.

Vista Outdoor has experienced record-breaking profits and never-seen-before demand that now exceeds over $1 Billion in backorders. At their current capacity and rate of production, it looks like these outstanding orders will take easily over a year to fill, unfortunately. All of this came to light during a recent 2nd Quarter call with investors by CEO of Vista Outdoor, Chris Metz. Fox Business outlined much of the details in their article segment below:

“Big-name shooting sports company Vista Outdoor Inc. reported “over a year’s worth” of backlogged ammunition orders worth more than $1 billion, an official said recently.
Vista was reporting its second-quarter earnings when CEO Chris Metz detailed what announced the backlog, which he called “unprecedented” for the company.
“We currently have over a year’s worth of orders for ammunition in excess of $1 billion,” Metz said during the Nov. 5 call. “With demand far outstripping supply and inventory levels in the channel at all-time lows, we see strong demand continuing, and this metric informs our viewpoint of what a recovery or normalization could look like.”
He added that he was providing the additional context “to convey an underlying strength and strong foundational element to our business.”
In August, FOX Business reported that ammo was hard to come by after the number of gun purchases soared amid civil unrest and political concerns, among other reasons.
An estimated 1.9 million firearms were sold in October this year, a 65% spike from the same month in 2019, according to data provided by Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting (SAAF).
SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer said in a press release at the time that an estimated 18.6 million firearms had been sold so far this year, as 2020 “continues on its record firearms sales pace.”
Vista successfully bid $81.4 million to acquire Remington Arms’ ammunition and accessories businesses, its Arkansas manufacturing facility and the brand’s intellectual property.
In addition to its Remington acquisition, Metz attributed the quarter’s improved revenue to several factors, including the surge in hunting as people seek outlets amid the pandemic; the skyrocketing number of first-time gun buyers; and the increased diversity among firearms purchasers – “in part inspired by safety and personal protection,” he said.
“We’ve thrived as we watched the economy go up and down,” Metz said. “Politics permeate even further into everyday life.”
Headquartered in Minnesota, Vista’s sales were up by 29% year-over-year at $575 million, while gross profit had surged 78% to $162 million, Metz said during the call.“

Adam Scepaniak