We recently published an article titled Why These 15 Defense Stocks Are Skyrocketing So Far In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) stands against the other defense stocks.
A Republican administration usually points to a good time for defense stocks and the military-industrial complex as a whole. However, the Trump administration has taken a surprising departure from the traditional Republican stance of advocating for ever-increasing military budgets. Instead, Trump has introduced significant shifts in priorities. His administration has pushed for budget cuts at the Pentagon.
Trump wants to cut defense spending by 8% and re-allocate that toward border security and nuclear modernization instead of traditional military programs. The proposed cut would amount to approximately $50 billion in cuts each year and would total around $300 billion in reduced spending by fiscal 2030.
However, that’s unlikely to happen as both Democrats and Republicans in Congress haven’t been cooperating. Similar attempts previously didn’t get through. Regardless, many defense and aerospace companies have been posting great numbers and the stock market has rewarded them accordingly. It’s a good idea to look into the ones investors are piling into this year, as they could also be the winners of the Trump era.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the top-performing defense stocks year-to-date. Stocks that I have covered recently will be excluded from this list.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds invest in? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
A row of raw materials in pristine condition, waiting to be crafted into firearms.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 22
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) is a firearm manufacturer.
The stock is up significantly so far in 2025 as it reported blockbuster Q4 2024 earnings. Q4 2024 revenue of $145.8 million, beating expectations by $8 million. Earnings per share of $0.62 met analyst expectations and Q4 revenue grew 19% compared to Q4 2023.
Moreover, new product sales accounted for 32% of total firearm sales at $159.3 million, up from 23% or $119.0 million in 2023. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share and entered 2025 with a debt-free balance sheet, along with $105.5 million in cash and short-term investments.
On top of that, Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) announced successful inventory management with a reduction of 28,300 units in finished goods and 63,500 units in distributor inventories.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE:RGR) stock is up 11.73% year-to-date.
Overall RGR ranks 11th on our list of the defense stocks that are skyrocketing so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of RGR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RGR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
