ShotSpotter Inc. Helping Police Protect American Cities

In the wake of the most recent mass shooting tragedy that occurred on U.S. soil in Las Vegas on Sunday-which is being categorized as the worst mass killing on U.S. soil since 2001- shares of particular stocks have been affected for the positive and for the negative.

One such stock being affected in a positive way, and by that I mean an increase in share price, is a little-known Nasdaq stock called ShotSpotter Incorporated. The symbol is (SSTI) and is a small-cap stock which is thinly traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange and went public just as recent as June of this year in a $30 million dollar share offering priced at $11 per share.

The company brought in $35 million dollars in proceeds from the IPO which was handled by Roth Capital, Northland Capital, and Imperial capital. The company is very small and employs only 70 employees located in California.

However, what they do is no small task. Basically what the company provides is a sophisticated electronic device or sensor, that detects and pinpoints the location of gunfire in cities all across America that have decided to participate and purchase the technology from them.

The alerts are digital and sent by the company to the local authorities which would be the First Responders in such events such as gunfire and loud unexplainable gunshot-like sounds. It does have the ability though to distinguish between pyrotechnics or fireworks and actual gunshots.

The share price has surged of late, especially on Tuesday’s trading action as the stock price was up 18.3% closing up $2.63 at $17 as of 4 p.m. As mentioned earlier, shares opened in the IPO at $11 per share, so closing it 17 represents a roughly 55% share increase since the IPO.

The Costs And Where They Are Located

The annual subscription fee for the company’s technology is between $65,000 and $95,000 per square mile with a minimum of 3 square miles required for purchase. Some of the larger places in America are New York City, San Francisco, Boston, New Haven, Canton, Milwaukee, and Miami Gardens.

Each sensor has a radius of somewhere around 300 miles each. ShotSpotter is currently available in 90 cities worldwide, including cities in 23 U.S. states and territories.Twenty six out of twenty-eight  U.S. cities employing the ShotSpotter reported a median 29% reduction of gun violence within a year of implementation.

Some have even reported up to 80% in gunfire reduction and 40% reduction in related violent crime and homicides.-Marketwatch.com   

ShotSpotter Chart

(Click on image to enlarge)

The above price chart shows the daily price action since the IPO in June. It is clear to see that shares have recently broken out from a sideways trading pattern and have been ignited in the wake of the most recent mass shooting in Las Vegas Nevada.