Federal limits production to limit supply to increase profit. They're making more money for less work. Stop falling for it. You're annoying the rest of us.
They stated so in a report for stockholders.
Derp on me. I misread that as you saying Nosler was purposefully holding back.
Nevertheless, could you point to that language of deliberate scarcity in a recent Vista earnings report? I'm flipping through 2021 and 2022 now and not seeing it.
In the 2021 report they wrote about future supply constraints because of Winchester acquiring the Lake City plant: "We rely on an outside supplier for certain of our ammunition products
[SIC]. Beginning on October 1, 2020, management and control of the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant transitioned to Olin Corporation’s Winchester business, which is a competitor of our ammunition business. After expiration of our current two-year supply agreement with Winchester, we may not be able to purchase Lake City Army Ammunition Plant products from Winchester on favorable terms or at all, and we may not be able to purchase ammunition products to replace the products we currently purchase from the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant from another supplier. If we fail to maintain an adequate supply of such ammunition products, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. (2021, pg. 12)
But, in the 2022 report they seem pretty confident on their ability to meet increased demand, stating "We believe we are well-positioned to succeed and capitalize on this demand given our scale and global operating platform, which we believe is particularly difficult to replicate in the highly regulated and capital-intensive ammunition manufacturing sector." (2022, pg. 30)
In the 2022 report they also reference some damage caused by Winchester's acquisition of the Lake City plant: "The fiscal year 2022 period includes sales from Remington and HEVI-Shot, which we acquired in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, of the prior fiscal year. The increase also reflects improved pricing and strong demand in the market across our Sporting Products line, and production increases over the prior year at all of our facilities. These increases were partially offset by a reduction of sales from small rifle ammunition produced at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant." (2022, pg. 31)
But, it looks like they plan to offset the loss of their outsourcing production contract at Lake City with their acquisition of Remington and the Lonoke manufacturing plant: "During the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, we acquired certain assets related to Remington Outdoor Company, Inc.’s ("Remington") ammunition and accessories businesses, including Remington's ammunition manufacturing facility in Lonoke, Arkansas and related intellectual property." (2022, Pg. 57)
The TLDR seems to be that current scarcity could be a result of their losing the plant where they had a contract to outsource manufacturing at Lake City. But that capabilities could be getting ramped up as they bring Remington's Lonoke plant online? Yes, they do admit to increasing prices and passing that off to their shareholders in the form of dividends. But, no mention of creating artificial scarcity to justify raising those prices.