While some companies reported revenue growth over the past quarter, profitability remained elusive for the public members of the gun industry as they navigated lower demand, inflation, and higher operating costs. Meanwhile, a high-stakes proxy battle between two of the world’s largest gun makers, Ruger and Beretta, exposed deep disagreements regarding strategic direction in a sector grappling with economic headwinds.
The vast majority of gun manufacturers, wholesalers, and dealers are privately held, but a few are publicly traded, providing deeper insights into their business practices and financial health. Here’s a look at how the first quarter of 2026 unfolded for the gun industry.
Editor’s Note: Prior quarterly updates for 2025 and 2024 are available here and here. To learn more about the firearm supply chain and how it works, click here.
Grabagun
On March 12, GrabAGun, an online gun retailer backed by Donald Trump Jr., released its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results for fiscal year 2025, revealing revenue growth but a shift to unprofitability following its July 2025 initial public offering. The company reported an operating loss of $0.4 million, despite increased net revenue for the quarter of $29.6 million, a 14.1-percent increase from the previous year. For the fiscal year, the company reported a net loss of $2.5 million.
The company’s transition from profitable to unprofitable operations stemmed primarily from expenses related to going public, including stock-based compensation. The financial struggles mirror investor skepticism reflected in the stock’s dramatic decline.
During an earnings call, GrabAGun CEO Marc Nemati highlighted the company’s new PEW Logistics, a white-label e-commerce platform for gun makers — like KelTec and Derya — to sell guns online and ship them to customers using GrabAGub’s network of gun dealers. Nematic estimated that GrabAGun’s network puts a “dealer within 15 miles of 97% of the U.S. population.” He said PEW Logistics gives gun makers “real-time visibility into consumer behavior, purchase patterns, and demographic insights across their entire portfolio.”
Nemati also highlighted that, in December, GrabAGun became the first major firearms retailer to accept cryptocurrency payments, allowing it to reach “younger, digitally affluent” customers. Nemati called the move “a deliberate part of our strategy to capture next-generation market share.”
Ruger
On March 2, Ruger released its full-year financials for 2025, reporting an operating loss of $12 million. For the fourth quarter, the company reported net sales of $151 million, up over 3 percent from the previous year. Management acknowledged the difficult environment during an earnings call, citing inflation as well as lower discretionary spending and demand. The company expects 2026 to remain “flat to down.”
Ruger’s financial results have been overshadowed by an escalating proxy fight with Beretta, a 500-year-old, family-owned gun maker headquartered in Italy. After Beretta acquired nearly 10 percent of Ruger’s stock, Ruger initiated a “poison pill” plan to guard against further stock accumulation in October 2025. More recently, Beretta launched a “Reload Ruger” website nominating a new slate of directors for the Ruger board and campaigning on their behalf. Ruger then launched its own website to make management’s case to shareholders ahead of the May 2026 annual shareholder meeting.
In a statement, Beretta said Ruger’s latest financial results “underscore a clear and growing disconnect between management’s rhetoric and actual performance — a disconnect that cannot be explained away as cyclical or temporary headwinds. Instead, these results appear to reveal a management team and Board that are failing to execute effectively and are doubling down on a failed strategy that is eroding value for shareholders, employees and customers.”
Ruger’s board responded by accusing Beretta of seeking control through “extreme demands” and threatening to “go to war” if those demands weren’t met. Ruger further stated that in private negotiations, “Beretta’s chair indicated a long-term plan to combine Ruger with Beretta.” Beretta countered by saying that it only sought a “strategic minority investment” and accusing Ruger’s board of “breaching confidentiality by distorting negotiations.”
On March 25, Beretta sent a letter to Ruger’s board launching a tender offer seeking to bring its share ownership to 30 percent. In the letter, Beretta maintains that it does not intend to control Ruger.
The dispute may signal broader consolidation trends, with financially stronger European manufacturers like Beretta positioned to gain influence in a pressured U.S. gun market.
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson released quarterly financial results on March 5, 2026. The company saw net sales increase over 17 percent from the previous year to nearly $136 million.
In an earnings call, CEO Mark Smith said that Smith & Wesson had instituted a 2- to 3-percent price increase across most of its products on January 1 and received “no pushback whatsoever” from customers. He also boasted of the company’s law enforcement contracts with “nearly 1,000 separate federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies just within the past 18 months.” The company further reported that long gun shipments had decreased by 25 percent, but handgun shipments increased by 28 percent.
outdoor holding company
Outdoor Holding Company, GunBroker’s parent company, released its quarterly earnings on February 9, as the company seeks to recover from 2024’s accounting scandal and 2025’s restructuring. The company managed its second consecutive quarter of modest profitability, posting net income of $1.46 million. In fiscal year 2025, the company operated at a $65 million loss.
The decrease in operating expenses resulted from resolved legal disputes — including a settlement with the SEC — and cost discipline initiatives. The company completed the sale of its ammunition manufacturing business to Olin Corporation in April 2025 and relocated its headquarters from Arizona to Georgia, focusing exclusively on operating the GunBroker.com marketplace.
CEO Steve Urvan, who took the helm in May 2025 as part of a settlement resolving his 2023 lawsuit against the company, said, “By streamlining our cost structure, completing the divestiture of non-core operations, and investing in the modernization of GunBroker.com, we are delivering consistent profitability and strengthening our balance sheet.”
olin corporation
In February, Olin Corporation, which manufactures Winchester-brand ammunition and licenses the Winchester name for firearms, released financials showing that fiscal year 2025 was a challenging one for its ammunition business. That segment’s income fell to $67.7 million from $237.9 million in 2024, a 72-percent decline driven by decreased commercial ammunition sales volumes and higher raw material and operating costs. Despite the weak commercial market, the company’s military contract revenue increased, helping partially offset losses. Winchester ammunition represented 26 percent of Olin’s total 2025 sales.
looking ahead
As tariffs, inflation, and weakening demand continue to pressure the gun industry, expect more strategic pivots and consolidation. The Beretta-Ruger proxy fight may be just the beginning of a broader shake-up of the market.