Ruger 2025 Results: Revenue Up, Profit Down Despite 65 New Models

Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE: RGR) released its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings report today. The short version: revenue grew, profits fell off a cliff, and the company somehow pushed 65 new models out the door in Q4 alone. Three of those were entirely new platforms.

Let's get into it.

The Numbers

Fourth quarter net sales came in at $151.1 million, up 3.6% from $145.8 million in Q4 2024. Full-year net sales hit $546.1 million, a modest 1.9% bump over 2024's $535.6 million. So the top line is growing, if slowly.

Here's where it gets ugly. Full-year diluted earnings came in at negative $0.27 per share, compared to $1.77 per share in 2024. That's not a typo. On an adjusted basis (stripping out one-time charges for inventory rationalization, product line cuts, leadership transitions, and organizational restructuring), adjusted EPS was $0.84. Still less than half of 2024's adjusted $1.86.

Q4 specifically showed diluted earnings of $0.21 per share versus $0.62 in Q4 2024. The adjusted number was $0.26.

The full-year net loss was $4.4 million. For context, Ruger posted a $30.6 million profit in 2024 and $48.2 million in 2023. Two years, steep slide. The company knows it.

What Happened to Profitability?

Cost of goods sold jumped from $421.2 million in 2024 to $464.9 million in 2025, eating most of the revenue gains. General and administrative expenses spiked too, from $44 million to $54.2 million. Then there was a $17 million inventory write-off from product rationalization in Q2.

EBITDA for the full year: $29.5 million at a 5.4% margin. That's down from $55.1 million and 10.3% in 2024. Rough.

CEO Todd Seyfert didn't sugarcoat it. He called improving profitability and right-sizing the business "not optional" and "essential," and pointed to cost-control and capacity-balancing actions already underway heading into 2026.

The Product Story Is Actually Strong

The financial picture is rough, but Ruger's product pipeline is doing real work. Sixty-five new models in Q4 2025, including three new platforms:

New products (the RXM pistol, Marlin lever-action rifles, American Centerfire Rifle Gen II, and others) accounted for $173 million in sales. That's roughly 33% of total firearm revenue coming from products introduced in the last two years.

Now here's the number that should catch your eye. Ruger's estimated sell-through from distributors to retailers was up 4.5% in 2025, even though adjusted NICS checks dropped 4.1% over the same period. They're gaining ground while the broader market shrinks. Distributor inventories fell by 33,500 units too, which tells you retailers are moving this stuff off shelves, not just warehousing it.

Balance Sheet and Cash

Ruger generated $54.3 million in cash from operations and is sitting on $92.5 million in cash and short-term investments. No debt. Current ratio of 3.9 to 1. By any reasonable measure, that's a fortress.

Quick breakdown of where the money went:

• Capital expenditures: $30.9 million, including $15 million for the   Anderson Manufacturing acquisition in Hebron, Kentucky
• Shareholder returns: $36.1 million total, split between $10.1 million in dividends and $26 million in stock buybacks (733,000 shares at an average of $35.60)
• Quarterly dividend declared: $0.08 per share, payable March 31, 2026

So What Does This Mean?

Ruger is in a transitional year, and it shows. The product side of the business is delivering. New launches are selling, market share appears to be growing, and the Marlin/Glenfield expansion gives them shelf space across categories they didn't occupy five years ago.

But the cost structure caught up with them in 2025. Revenue went up and profits went down, which is never a combination anybody wants to see. The transition from Killoy to Seyfert, the restructuring, the product line rationalization... all of that cost real money this year that shouldn't repeat in 2026. Whether the underlying margins actually improve once those one-time hits roll off is the question.

Seyfert seems to understand the assignment. He's talking about cost control and capacity alignment, not just flashy product launches. For a company with no debt, $92.5 million in the bank, and a lineup that's outperforming NICS trends at retail, 2025 looks more like a painful but necessary reset than a crisis.

Whether Wall Street sees it that way is a different story.

Source: Ruger Q4/Full-Year 2025 Earnings Release via BusinessWire. The full 10-K is available at SEC.gov and Ruger.com/corporate.