Axon Enterprise management check
AXON · Industrials · Aerospace & Defense · CEO Patrick Smith
Filings as of
2 good · 2 to watch · 3 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $463, against $187 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.24 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
32.1% of net income$40.0m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $124.7m of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 40 years of payThe CEO holds 3,127,941 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 40 years of pay. 9 insiders sold $60.1m in the last six months and none bought. 126 of 156 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +4.5% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 22.8% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
7 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Patrick Smith. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Flag
Are the books clean?
Red flags on file1 restatement notice (8-K 4.02), 1 auditor change (8-K 4.01), 1 late-filing notice since 2021. 1 amended annual report.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Industrials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 55 | |
| Pay for performance | 62 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 48 | |
| Skin in the game | 80 | 55 | |
| Dilution | 0 | 62 | |
| Stable leadership | 90 | 75 | |
| Clean books | 0 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Aerospace & Defense, by management score. Axon Enterprise is 78th of 81 in its sector.
- 21GEGE Aerospace85
- 44RTXRTX Corporation82
- 98HWMHowmet Aerospace76
- 113NOCNorthrop Grumman75
- 130LMTLockheed Martin73
- 154GDGeneral Dynamics72
- 206TXTTextron68
- 217TDGTransDigm Group67
- 310LHXL3Harris61
- 382HIIHuntington Ingalls Industries55
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 16, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Patrick Smith | $40.0m | −$12.6m | $1.0m | $463 | $187 | $124.7m |
| 2024 | — | $164.5m | $385.2m | $61.4m | $485 | $154 | $377.0m |
| 2023 | — | $40.1m | $43.5m | $17.7m | $211 | $119 | $175.8m |
| 2022 | — | $33.2m | $13.7m | $4.3m | $135 | $82 | $146.9m |
| 2021 | — | $33.1m | $253.6m | $5.6m | $128 | $122 | −$56.3m |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EBITDA. Its other key measures: Revenue, Company stock price.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Patrick W Smith (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER) held 3,127,941 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Sep 8, 2026, roughly $1.6bn at that filing's price.
9 insiders sold $60.1m in the last six months and none bought. 126 of 156 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldPatrick W SmithCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER · 10b5-1 plan$32.0mSep 8, 2026
- SoldJoshua IsnerPRESIDENT$16.0mAug 31, 2026
- SoldJeffrey C KuninsCPO & CTO · 10b5-1 plan$6.0mAug 21, 2026
- SoldBrittany BagleyCOO & CFO$2.9mJun 2, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Jul 10, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 10, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 11, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 2, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 7, 2025Annual report amended10-K/A
- May 7, 2025Restatement notice8-K 4.02
- May 13, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 5, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 27, 2024Auditor change8-K 4.01
- Dec 14, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 8, 2023Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Jul 5, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jun 1, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $0 returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 0% of net income, and $1.6bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $865.6m | $1.2bn | $1.6bn | $2.1bn | $2.8bn |
| Net income | −$56.3m | $146.9m | $175.8m | $377.0m | $124.7m |
| Stock-based pay | $303.3m | $106.2m | $131.4m | $382.6m | $634.2m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 66m | 73m | 75m | 79m | 82m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.