Shares in gun manufacturers soar after Trump assassination attempt

Shares in gun manufacturers jumped Monday in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Smith & Wesson Brands closed up 11%, while Sturm, Ruger & Co. rose 5%. Both firms make pistols, revolvers, hunting rifles and semiautomatic rifles like the one used in the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Officials have not yet released information about who manufactured the gun.

In recent years, arms companies’ shares have tended to see short-term increases in the wake of political and legal decisions seen as potentially leading to increased risk of domestic turbulence or which could be interpreted as heralding potential crackdowns on firearms ownership that would lead people to stockpile them.

But Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers financial group, said such stock moves are more often than not simply knee-jerk reactions by traders to current events and do not necessarily signal that more sales will occur.

‘The question is does their stock rally persist, or does it fade,’ Sosnick said. ‘We don’t know the lasting effect and won’t really know until they make some sort of public comment or report their quarterly earnings.’

The arms companies are still ultimately evaluated on their overall financial performances and have accordingly had diverging outcomes in recent years. Smith & Wesson’s share price has about doubled since December 2022, while Ruger shares are down 10% over the same period.

Gun sales for Ruger and Smith Wesson surged during the pandemic but have generally declined as the economy reopened.

‘It’s hard to escape [financial] fundamentals over the longer term,’ Sosnick said. ‘So if there’s a perception that the weekend’s events could spur firearms sales, that’ll be borne out over time. We’ll know the answer when these companies report next.’

Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group also soared Monday. Trading in its stock has also been headline-driven and remains highly volatile. Trump is the largest shareholder in Truth Social’s parent company.