Byrna Technologies posts tenfold year-over-year revenue growth in 3Q on munitions sales surge

Byrna Technologies Inc (OTCQB:BYRN) (CSE:BYRN) reported fiscal third quarter results Friday that showed tenfold year-over-year revenue growth on increased sales of its less-lethal equipment and munitions.  The maker of personal security devices brought in revenue of $4.2 million in the three months ended August 31, a huge jump from $307,101 in the same period last year. Margins improved to 51% from 19% and the loss from operations narrowed to $566,358 from a loss of $796,153 over the same period.  The Massachusetts-based company has seen orders take off in recent months.  READ: Byrna Technologies starts production of personal security kits at new Fort Wayne, Indiana manufacturing facility "Byrna Technologies generated a significant increase in sales in our fiscal third quarter, both on a year-over-year and a sequential basis," CEO Bryan Ganz said in a statement. "The current socio-political climate has created a heightened sense of the need for effective and reliable less-lethal self-defense in both civilians and law enforcement professionals. This, coupled with increased awareness of the unique aspects of our product resulting from favorable, high-profile media coverage, drove rapid order growth for our Byrna HD less-lethal personal security device."  Byrna reported cash on hand of $11.8 million as of August 31, including $7.1 million of restricted cash. Its total assets were $21.9 million.  On Thursday, Byrna kicked off production at its Fort Wayne, Indiana manufacturing facility.  “I am very proud of our team's ability to get this new production capacity up and running nearly a year ahead of plan in order to fulfill our robust backlog and satisfy our customers' orders, as well as capitalize on the extraordinary demand for the Byrna HD that we expect to continue for the foreseeable future,” Ganz said. “With Fort Wayne's 500 unit per day capacity adding to our 600 unit per day production in South Africa, the recent additions to our management team, and investments in corporate infrastructure, we believe Byrna is now very well positioned as a formidable player in the growing less-lethal defense market." Looking forward, Ganz said the company expects to turn a profit for the first time in its fiscal fourth quarter. "Based on our current backlog of orders, the ramp of production at our recently commissioned manufacturing facility in Fort Wayne, and the sustained production rate at our facility in South Africa, we expect revenues for the full fiscal year 2020 to be in the range of $16 million to $18 million,” Ganz said. “Additionally, we expect our fiscal fourth quarter of 2020 ending November 30th to be our first quarter of positive net income, as we benefit from increasing operating leverage on continued strong sales growth. Overall, we are optimistic about the company's prospects for delivering improved profitability and increased cash flow heading into the end of 2020 and entering 2021, as we work to build greater value for our stockholders." Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel