DEMAND FOR GUNS OUTPACES STURM RUGER’S PRODUCTION
An unprecedented run on guns — partly due to Covid-19 — is so strong that Sturm Ruger and Company can’t produce them fast enough, again partly due to Covid-19.
“The incredible surge in demand outstripped our production capacity, ” said CEO Christopher Killoy in an earnings call. In his 30 years in the industry, “This is probably the strongest level of demand that I’ve seen,” including the surge preceding the assault weapons ban.
The company, headquartered in Connecticut but with a major facility in Newport, NH, reported second quarter sales are $130 million, up by more than a quarter, with a net income of $18.6 million, $1.05 a diluted share — triple the profits from the same quarter last year. But that was limited by production capacity. The number of units ordered nearly doubled in the first quarter and nearly tripled in the second.
Killoy attributed the “staggering increase” for “personal protection and home defense stemming from continuing Covid-19 pandemic; protests, demonstrations and civil unrest in many cities throughout the United States and lastly, the call by some for the reduction in funding and authority of various law enforcement organizations.”
COVID COOLS DOWN UNITIL’S SECOND-QUARTER EARNINGS
In the first quarter of 2020, warmer weather hurt Unitil’s earnings. In the second quarter, Covid-19 kicked in.
The Hampton-based gas and electric utility reported income of $3.1 million in the second quarter, about 21 cents per share, a decrease of about $900,000. Nearly half of that decrease ($400,000, or 3 cents a share) was due to the pandemic, said CEO Tom Meissner in an earnings call held last week.
New Hampshire’s stay-at-home order hurt sales at workplaces, the utility said. Yes, usage of both gas and electricity were up at homes, but that didn’t make up for the decline in commercial sales whose margins are usually greater.
Ironically, on the expense side the virus helped the utility by reducing healthcare costs, as employees — the company said that it had no active infections — cut back on other medical procedures. That more than offset other expenses, such as the purchase of personal protective equipment and provision for bad debt, since emergency orders prevented utility shutoffs when customers couldn’t pay their bills.
ALUMNI VENTURES LAUNCHES NEW VC APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
Manchester-based investment firm Alumni Ventures Group has launched a new VentureCorps program — a paid, full-time, yearlong program designed for graduate students and undergraduate upper-level students across the country who are interested in a career in entrepreneurship or venture capital.
The program, designed for those who plan to defer or take a leave of absence from a higher education degree program for the 2020-21 academic year, is an outgrowth of Alumni’s Venture Fellow Program, which has provided a free, part-time educational on-ramp to the VC industry to fellows nationwide.
Alumni said it plans to offer between six and 10 full-time VentureCorps positions for a 10-month period starting on Labor Day and running through July 4, 2021. Compensation will be equivalent to an annual $40,000 salary, the company said.
Each VentureCorps member will be embedded with an Alumni team operating out of San Francisco, Boston, New York, Austin, Chicago or the company’s headquarters in Manchester. Applications from remote candidates will also be considered.
“For many students, this upcoming year of graduate school or college is creating huge stress and uncertainty. They signed up for a full-time, in-person experience — but now many don’t have that option in the 2020-2021 school year. AVG’s VentureCorps program is for those who want a rewarding, full-time apprenticeship-style job with AVG for a year before rebooting their higher education next fall,” said Alumni CEO Mike Collins.
