Axon up as Morgan Stanley bullish on taser maker's strong growth

Investing.com -- Morgan Stanley on Tuesday upgraded taser maker Axon Enterprise Inc (NASDAQ:AXON ) to “overweight,” lifting target price by $200 to $700, banking on its strong growth driven by expanding software portfolio, adoption of artificial intelligence solutions

Axon shares up 1.6% at $646 in early trading.  

Morgan Stanley’s analysts say the 25-30% revenue growth which Axon has put up is becoming more durable over the long term, given increasing adoption of its higher-priced software bundles, such as officer safety plans, and new offerings like drones and license plate readers.

Axon’s relationship with large public safety departments has created barrier to entry for competitors.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS ) analyst highlighted Axon’s total addressable market (TAM) of $77 billion remains largely untapped. Axon’s AI product, Draft One generated a $100 million pipeline just three months after its launch.

“We are more willing to ascribe value to AI portfolio pulling through other products, which could lead to additional valuation upside,” Morgan Stanley said

While Axon’s stock has soared around 150% year-to-date, with valuation steep at about 14.5 times its 2026 estimated sales, Morgan Stanley said “growth averaging over 40% over the last 5 years, the recurring nature of the business has grown enough to increase belief in durability around 30% growth rates that in combination with uniqueness of asset, can support a premium valuation.”

Axon is strongly positioned in the public safety market, supported by police departments’ growing budgets for technology and a lack of competitors offering comparable software solutions. Reliance on public tax revenues, regulatory developments, and slower-than-expected adoption of new hardware and software solutions are risk on the upside.

Source: Investing.com