American Outdoor Brands Corporation

American Outdoor Brands Corporation
Formerly
 Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (2002-2016)
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: AOBC
Russell 2000 Component
Industry Firearms, outdoor products
Founded February 15, 2002 (2002-02-15)
Headquarters Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States
Area served
 worldwide
Key people
 P. James Debney (CEO and President)
Products Firearms, Ammunitions, Accessories, Optoelectronics
Subsidiaries Smith & Wesson
Battenfeld Technologies
Crimson Trace
Website www.aob.com

American Outdoor Brands Corporation is an American manufacturer of firearms and outdoor sports and recreation products.[1] It owns 18 brands. Its principal brand is Smith & Wesson firearms.[2]

Until 2016, the company was named Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation. The company has diversified from firearms into sporting goods and outdoor gear, the rugged outdoors business being a larger market than firearms, in hopes of insulating Smith & Wesson from the stock price volatility caused by the unpredictability of the gun business.[3] This culminated in the decision to change the company's name to American Outdoor Brands Corporation in 2016, and took effect on the first business day of 2017.[4] The change occurred at a time when the firearms industry was receiving backlash over gun violence in America, and so was also seen as an attempt to disassociate itself from the negative repercussions surrounding the issue.[5]

In 2017, firearms accounted for 86% of AOBC's revenues, and the company shipped 420,000 long guns.[6] American Outdoor Brands also owns Battenfeld Technologies,[7] Taylor Brands (a knife and tool maker bought in August 2016 for $95 million), and Crimson Trace (an electro-optics business which it bought in August 2016 for $85 million).[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://aob.com/our-story/
  2. ↑ American Outdoor Brands Corporation. "Our Brands - American Outdoor Brands". Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  3. ↑ Fuscaldo, Donna (14 December 2016). "Don't Bring Your Guns to Town: Smith & Wesson to Change Name (SWHC)". Investopedia. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "American Outdoor Brands Corporation Completes Holding Company Name Change and Commences Trading Under NASDAQ Symbol "AOBC"" (Press release). American Outdoor Brands Corporation. January 3, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ Duprey, Rich. "Why Smith & Wesson Changed to American Outdoor Brands". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  6. ↑ "Where Do All The Assault Rifles Come From?". Priceonomics. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  7. ↑ http://aob.com/our-brands/
  8. ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2016/12/13/smith-wesson-to-change-name-to-american-outdoor-brands-corp.html
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