Rick Smith, CEO of Axon Enterprises.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Shares of law enforcement supplier Axon Enterprise spiked more than 9% in premarket trading after protests against police brutality turned violent in many cities across the country.
Axon, formerly known as Taser International, sells electrical weapons and body cameras for law enforcement officers. The stock’s jump on Monday morning, which came in light trading, followed a gain of 3.8% during Friday’s session.
The company was one of several that Oppenheimer identified in a note as providing technology that could be beneficial in reforming government agencies, such as police departments. The firm’s analysts praised Axon’s CEO, writing, “CEO Rick Smith has a company vision and personal passion to arm police agencies with technology and disarm them of lethal weapons.”
Over the weekend, Smith said released a statement on the company’s website in which he included quotes from police chiefs from Arizona and Washington and said “everyone deserves to get home safe.”
“We offer our sincere condolences to all those who loved George Floyd and we empathize with the citizens and communities who are angry and acknowledge the pain and suffering they are experiencing in the wake of this event,” Smith said in the statement.
The company, which has a market cap of roughly $4.5 billion, changed its name to Axon from Taser in 2017. Including the premarket move, the stock has gained more than 13% year-to-date.