Taser Profit, Revenue Top Views

Law-enforcement equipment maker Taser International Inc. on Monday reported better-than-expected results as its fast-growing body-worn camera hardware and data business notched sharp gains.

Shares rose 10% to $19.17 in premarket trading.

More police agencies have equipped officers with body cameras as demand for police accountability and transparency grows. Taser, known for its stun guns, has moved to expand its Axon brand to combine its body cameras with the technology from its video system.

Chief Executive Rick Smith has said the company's Axon body camera segment is accelerating faster than the company had anticipated. He said he expects increased bookings to continue in this space—which the company has believes to have a market of $3 billion annually—throughout the year.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, revenue in the Axon segment increased 47% to $9.4 million. The result was helped by a $3.2 million increase in service revenue, which helped offset a $1.1 million decrease in Axon body-worn camera hardware sales as the company delayed shipments of a new body camera until the first quarter. The company said its Axon and Evidence.com bookings jumped 82% from a year ago to $44.7 million.

Revenue in Taser's weapons segment increased 15% to $46.7 million.

Over all, Taser's profit edged up slightly from a year ago to $5.1 million. Its earnings per share remained flat at 9 cents. Sales rose 20% to $56 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected 4 cents of profit on $50.7 million in revenue.

The company's stock is up about 14% in the past month through Friday's close.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 29, 2016 08:55 ET (13:55 GMT)

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