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Text: Then Tom Dineen, our Chief Financial Officer, will give an overview of the fourth quarter and 2020 financial results.
And then, I will discuss our operations and the state of the market.
Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the company or the SEC or are available on the company website at Ruger.com/corporate, or of course, at the SEC website at sec.gov.
We do reference non-GAAP EBITDA.
Please note that the reconciliation of GAAP net income to non-GAAP EBITDA can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and our Forms 10-Q for the first three quarters of 2020, which also are posted on our website.
Now, Tom will discuss the Company's 2020 results.
For 2020, net sales were $568.9 million and diluted earnings were $5.09 per share.
For 2019, net sales were $410.5 million and diluted earnings were $1.82 per share.
For the fourth quarter of 2020, net sales were $169.3 million and diluted earnings were $1.78 per share.
For the corresponding period in 2019, net sales were $105.1 million and diluted earnings were $0.46 per share.
The substantial increase in profitability for the fourth quarter and the full year is attributable to the significant increase in sales, 61% for the fourth quarter and 39% for the full year.
And the reduction in the promotional and rebate activity in 2020, particularly in the latter half of the year.
At December 31, 2020, our cash and short-term investments, which are invested in US T-bills, totaled $141.2 million.
Our current ratio is 2.9 to 1 and we have no debt.
At December 31, 2020, stockholders' equity was $264.7 million, which equates to a book value of $15.13 per share, of which $8.07 per share was cash and short-term investments.
In 2020, we generated $144 million of cash from operations.
We reinvested $24 million of that back into the Company in the form of capital expenditures, primarily related to new products.
In addition, the Company acquired substantially all of the Marlin Firearms assets for $28 million in November of 2020, which included machinery and equipment, tooling, fixtures, and inventory.
We estimate that 2021 capital expenditures will be approximately $20 million, predominantly related to new product development.
Our ability to shift manufacturing equipment between cells and between facilities improves overall utilization and allows for a reduced capital investment.
Cash returned to shareholders.
In 2020, we returned $114 million to our shareholders through the payment of dividends, reflecting our customary quarterly dividends and a special dividend of $5 per share that was paid in August.
Our Board of Directors declared a $0.71 per share quarterly dividend for shareholders of record as of March 12, 2021, payable on March 26, 2021.
As a reminder, our quarterly dividend is approximately 40% of net income and therefore varies quarter to quarter.
These dividends add up.
Since 2015, the company has paid $225 million in dividends to its shareholders, just less than $13 per share.
Additionally, during that time, we repurchased more than 1.7 million shares of our stock for $84 million, at an average price of $48.36 per share.
That's the financial update for 2020.
The tremendous sales growth and profitability in 2020 was driven by the historic surge in consumer demand that began late in the first quarter and continued throughout the year.
The estimated sell-through of the Company's products from the independent distributors to retailers, in 2020, increased 44% from 2019.
For the same period, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS background checks, as adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, increased 60%.
These substantial increases have likely been constrained due to the limited available inventory in the distribution channel.
In 2020, new product sales represented $111 million or 22% of firearm sales, compared to $102 million or 26% of firearm sales in 2019.
We remain committed to new product development as evidenced by our strong roster of our new products in 2020, which included the extremely popular Ruger-57 pistol, which is awarded the 2020 Caliber Award for best overall new product by the Professional Outdoor Media Association in conjunction with the NASGW.
The LCP II in.
22 Long Rifle, which is based on the venerable LCP platforms and utilizes our Lite Rack system for easier slide manipulation and reduced recoil.
The Wrangler revolver, our latest take on the classic single-action revolver, which has surpassed our wildest expectations and shows no signs of slowing down.
And the PC Charger and AR-556 pistol, two pistol configurations based on established rifle platforms that have found widespread popularity.
As a reminder, derivatives and product line extensions of mature product families are not included in our new product sales calculation, but they provide great value to our distributors, retailers, and our loyal Ruger consumers.
Despite the ferocious pace of business, our engineering teams continue to develop exciting new platforms in a -- for a variety of new products.
I look forward to providing updates when we get closer to launching these innovative new products in the future.
The incredible surge in demand outstripped our production for most of 2020.
As a result, the combined inventories in our warehouses and at our distributors, decreased 290,000 units during 2020.
And the available information suggests that retailer inventory of Ruger as well as most other firearms brands also remains largely depleted.
We are working hard to replenish inventories throughout the distribution channel as quickly as possible so consumers can purchase the Ruger firearms that they desire.
With the onset of the Covid19 pandemic, we suspended hiring from March until June.
Once hiring resumed, we remained cautious and limited the rate at which we were bringing new folks on board.
By mid-summer, we began to accelerate our hiring process, and as a result, since the middle of 2020, our workforce has been strengthened by 250 folks.
This allowed us to realize a 30% increase in production during the latter half of the year.
As many of you are aware, in November, we purchased substantially all of the Marlin assets for $28.3 million.
Since that time, we moved all the inventory, manufacturing equipment, tooling, fixtures, and gauges to our facilities, which is no small task.
We are still in the process of evaluating these assets, reviewing the product designs, and determining the best manufacturing process for each component part.
We have started to establish a manufacturing cells that will produce the Marlin rifles and plan on shipping the first Ruger-made Marlin lever-action rifles from our Mayodan facility in late 2021.
Like many of you, I've been a fan of Marlin products for as long as I can remember.
We have heard from hundreds of the Marlin-faithful and countless firearms consumers who are excited, as excited as we are, to have this legendary brand as part of Ruger.
As we are all too well aware, the Covid19 pandemic continues to cast its wall shadow.
Since its onset in March, we have remained proactive in maintaining the health and safety of our employees and mitigating its impact on our business by providing all hourly employees with an additional two weeks of paid time-off in 2020 and providing an additional week in 2021, encouraging employees to continue to work remotely wherever possible and maintaining social distancing throughout each manufacturing facility, including in every manufacturing cell.
Confidentially communicating with and assisting employees with potential health issues through our dedicated facility nurses.
Restricting visitor access to minimize the introduction of new people to the factory environment, implementing additional cleaning, sanitizing, and other health and safety [Technical Issue] processes, including improved ventilation to maintain a clean and safe workplace.
Providing all employees with multiple face mask coverings and other personal protective equipment and manning their use at all times in our facilities.
Issuing periodic guidance and reminders to all associates, directly to their phones where possible, to encourage them to engage in safe and responsible behaviors, and manufacturing and donating personal protective equipment to local hospitals, healthcare facilities, and police and fire departments in our local communities.
These actions which cost approximately $3.6 million, in 2020, mitigated the adverse financial impact on our business, resulting from Covid19.
We also experienced expense reductions and deferrals in certain areas of our business, including reductions or delays in sponsorships and advertising, reduced conference and trade show participation costs, and reduced travel expenditures.
These expense reductions and deferrals approximated $2.9 million in 2020.
The future impact of Covid19 remains unknown.
We estimate that Covid-related costs will total between $1.5 million and $3 million in 2021.
Included in this estimate is a $200 bonus for every employee who receives a Covid vaccination.
Our financial strength, evidenced by our debt-free balance sheet provides financial security and flexibility as we continue to manage through Covid and focus on our long-term goals and creation of shareholder value.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the extraordinary work of our Covid19 task force and the leadership teams at all of our facilities.
They have risen to the daily challenges posed by the pandemic and have worked tirelessly, keeping our folks healthy and our facilities clean.
I could not be prouder of everyone's performance.
It truly was a team effort.
I'm excited as we head into 2021.
We look forward to launching new products that are sure to create excitement among shooters.
And as I mentioned a few moments ago, we're excited to start shipping Marlin lever-action rifles in late 2021.
And the low inventory levels in the channel provide further opportunity for us.
Those were the highlights of 2020.
Operator, may we have the first question?

user
compname reports q4 earnings per share $1.78.
compname reports 2020 diluted earnings of $5.09 per share and declares dividend of 71¢ per share.
q4 earnings per share $1.78.
q4 sales $169.3 million.

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