We recently published a list of 10 Best Gun Stocks to Buy in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK) stands against other best gun stocks to buy in 2025.

America has a deep connection to guns, dating back to its earliest days. The Second Amendment of the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to bear arms. According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2023, about four in ten adults in the country say they live in a household with guns, while 32% personally use one.

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While there is mixed opinion over the right to own a gun and the laws that regulate its use in modern times, most gun owners consider the weapon an integral part of their freedom. About 72% cite protection as the major reason behind owning a gun. Others own the weapon for varying reasons, including gun collection, hunting, sports shooting, and job purposes.

While firearm purchases have been on a steady decline since the pandemic peak, the demand is still reasonably high. The United States is home to a thriving firearms industry that generates billions in revenue every year and provides employment to thousands of Americans. According to The Firearm Industry Trade Association, the sector contributed $90 billion toward the national output in 2023. This was 371% higher than the levels in 2008.

American companies that manufacture and sell firearms, ammunition, and hunting equipment had employed nearly 155,000 people, as of 2023. The market has also created thousands of jobs indirectly in the ancillary and supplier industries, resulting in over 384,000 jobs tied to the sector. Combined, these workers earn around $25.98 billion in wages.

While final figures for gun sales in 2024 are yet to be known, the FBI’s database recorded 5.5 million guns being bought by Americans during the first four months of the year. This was a slight dip year-over-year from 2023. California, Florida, and Texas represented 22% of gun purchases between January and April.

During his election campaign, Trump vowed to defend gun rights and oppose any firearm limits. After being elected President, the 78-year-old signed an executive order aimed at reversing Biden’s actions on the guns. On February 7, the U.S. president asked the Department of Justice to review regulations drafted by the previous administration to look for any ‘ongoing infringements’ of the Second Amendment.

Gun stocks surged last year in July, following the assassination attempt on Trump. The demand for guns and ammunition often sees an uptick after a law and order incident, or when there is chatter about a change in laws that could limit their availability.

Methodology

We scanned Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds for the third quarter of 2024 to identify gun and ammunition companies. From there, we picked 10 companies with the highest number of hedge funds having stakes in them. Since there are few pure-play gun and ammunition stocks, we have also included sports and outdoor recreation companies selling shooting products in our list.

The best gun stocks to buy are ranked in ascending order by the hedge fund holders in each company. When two or more stocks were tied on the number of hedge fund holders, we outranked one over the other on market capitalization.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? 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).

National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16

National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK) started in 1905 by producing pressure canners for home use, before venturing into other cooking appliances and, later, defense and safety products. The company is divided into three business segments – houseware appliances, defense, and safety, which provides it a significant edge; if one market is down, the other may go up.

National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK) is an important player in America’s defense industry. It is a major supplier of 40mm ammunition and cartridge cases to the Department of Defense (DoD). Last year in May, the company won a five-year contract valued at $818.9 million from the U.S. Army for 40mm M918E2 High-Velocity Target Practice cartridges. Spectra Technologies, LLC, a subsidiary of NPK’s defense holding company, National Defense Corporation, also received a follow-on subcontract worth $48 million from Raytheon Missiles & Defense to produce warheads for the TOW 2B missile.

National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK) is one of the best gun stocks to buy, with 16 hedge funds having a stake in the company, according to Insider Monkey’s database for Q3 2024. This is an improvement from 14 hedge funds at the end of the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies is the largest investor in NPK, with holdings valued at over $17.3 million, as of September 30, 2024.

Investor sentiment has been strengthened after strong results during the third quarter of fiscal 2024. National Presto Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NPK) reported net sales of $91.8 million, up 10.4% from last year, driven by an 8.9% increase in defense segment shipments from backlog and a 15.2% surge in home appliances revenue. Net earnings were posted at $8.08 million, up from $7.02 million during the same period last year. Net EPS was logged at $1.13, increasing 14% year-over-year.

Overall, NPK ranks 5th on our list of best gun stocks to buy in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of gun companies, our conviction lies in the belief that 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 NPK 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.