Continue reading TASER's First-Quarter Forecast Falls Short of Consensus, Downgrades Follow

TASER's First-Quarter Forecast Falls Short of Consensus, Downgrades Follow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shares of TASER International (NASDAQ: TASR) are trading lower today as investors react to the company's second-quarter earnings report. The stun-gun issue reported a narrowed quarterly loss of $723,403, or a penny per share, compared to its year-ago loss of 3 cents per share.

Revenue for the period increased 3.5% to $21.8 million, though gross margin fell to 62.9% from 64.5%. Research and development expenses jumped 45% during the quarter as TASER poured more cash into new products, including its recently launched X3 device.

Continue reading TASER International sags as Q2 gross margins disappoint

TASER International sags as Q2 gross margins disappoint originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One stock that deals with those in a wrathful mood is TASER International (NASDAQ: TASR). The company makes a product that will ring the wrath right out of you. In fact, its product is at the frontline of civil obedience and is now used by police squads around the country to defend us from those wrathful criminals.

Shares of TASR used to fly high. Not so much anymore as the stock trades at just under $5 per share. That said, the company is a leader in the field of non-lethal methods of compliance and will ride high again. I rate TASR a buy. Get more cheap stock picks here.

Next: Deadly sin stock #3

See all 7 deadly sin stocks.

Deadly sin stock #2: TASER Intl. (TASR) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 May 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just for fun, I thought I'd find a stock that loosely symbolizes each of the 7 Deadly Sins -- greed, wrath, envy, pride, lust, sloth and gluttony -- to see how it fares against my momentum criteria.

Now, I'm not saying any of these companies are bad or evil. And I don't know whether our new climate of parsimony means the "greed is good" era of the 1980s is dead. What I do know is which stocks are in a position to profit today and which aren't.

Here's a fun look at some stocks that symbolize the 7 Deadly Sins and how I expect them to perform.

Continue reading 7 stocks for 7 deadly sins

7 stocks for 7 deadly sins originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Taser International (NASDAQ: TASR), a maker of stun-guns used for police work, corrections, and personal defense" is a new trade from technician Melvin Pasternak in The Swing Trader.

On a split-adjusted basis, the stock peaked in the mid-$30s in 2004. The advisor notes, "Dogged by bad publicity about its guns, it declined to just above $5 per share in October 2005." The shares then rallied to the $11 range in the spring of 2006, he points out, and have been trading in a broad range between $6 and $10 since that time.

However, in late May, he notes, TASR "blew through important resistance just above $10 on volume about double normal weekly levels." In addition, he says, "This past week, the stock added to its gains and probed key resistance just above $11 before retreating." Volume, he adds, was again very strong.

For the more technically-inclined, the advisor explains that the stock has broken a relative strength downtrend line, and that line is "convincingly above its own moving average for the first time in many months." In addition, he notes that the stock's MACD is on a buy signal. With the shares breaking out of a multi-month base, he believes they are posted to move higher.

To determine the possible upside, the tecnician looks at the stock's base, which he notes it $3 in height. He says, "According to the measuring principle, the stock should now reach about $13 per share."

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

Taser: A 'stunning' trade originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is no stranger to controversies. These days, police say it is concerned with Taser's latest consumer weapon, a $299 metallic pink, palm-sized C2 stun gun (no worries, it does come in three other cool colors including Black Pearl as well).

To recap, last time I wrote about Taser was in late February, when Taser reported fourth-quarter earnings that showed strong sales that boosted profits. Shares went up 5.5% consequently. Then Taser announced preliminary first quarter results that fell below analysts' expectations due to delayed orders. While investors punished the stock, taking it down 5%, some analysts remained positive on the company's base sales.

As for the C2, police say the consumer weapon is bound to fall into criminal hands and worry that officers will be injured by users who lack proper training. The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest law-enforcement labor union, has barred Taser from exhibiting the new C2 weapon or any other at its convention in August.

Seven states have already outlawed consumer use of stunning devices and three other states, including Texas are considering bills for bans or regulation of ownership.

Taser isn't worried. First, its main market is law-enforcement agencies rather than consumers. Second, there's always concern around a new product, the company says.

After a nice 5% run the past ten days, shares closed down 2.56% at $8.37 on Thursday. The stock remains of speculative nature. While many wrongful deaths lawsuits have been dismissed, lowering its risk, Taser does have rocky fundamentals. I still definitely like the long-term prospects, but it's only for those who can stomach it.

As a last comment, and in light of the Virginia Tech shooting, something eludes me here (probably because I'm Canadian). How is it that stunning devices seem to be more regulated than guns in the U.S.? Gun control - no, but stunning devices ban - yes?

Taser's new consumer stun gun spooks police originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Taser stuns the market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.