NEWPORT — The town’s largest employer announced layoffs last week.

Firearms manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., confirmed on Friday that it had reduced its force.

“We recently took the difficult action of adjusting our New Hampshire workforce to proactively address cost misalignments within our operations and balance production across our facilities,” Rob Werkmeister, a Sturm, Ruger & Co., spokesman wrote in a Friday email. “These moves, while difficult, are necessary to help us meet customer needs and protect shareholder value while ensuring the long-term success of the business.”

In a follow-up message on Monday, Werkmeister said the workforce “adjustments” included less than 5%, or 90, of the company’s 1,800 employees.

“The moves last week were made to balance the work force with consumer demand for the products across all lines,” Werkmeister wrote. “These moves were to address cost misalignment across the entire company.”

Ruger produces some of its pistol models, most of its revolvers, and some of its rifle
models at the Newport facility, according to its 2024 financial disclosures.

Newport Town Manager Kyle Harris said that he had heard rumors about the layoffs.

“Nobody’s really talking,” he said in a Monday phone interview.

The news comes as the company has been facing financial challenges.

Sturm, Ruger has plants in Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri and North Carolina, and employs roughly 1,780 employees, according to an annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission last February.

On a pretax basis, Ruger lost $2.1 million in the third quarter of 2025, which ended Sept. 27, according to a November news release.

The Southport, Conn.-based company attributed the loss to $1.9 million of acquisition and operating costs at a new Hebron, Ky. facility it acquired last July; increased costs associated with material and technology; and increased sales promotional expenses.

Net sales for the nine months ending Sept. 27 were $395.0 million and the company lost $0.48 per share for those nine months.

In June of last year, the Hartford Business Journal in Hartford, Conn., reported a workforce reduction at Sturm, Ruger & Co. Company CEO Todd Syfert said the move would cost $3 million in severance and separation-related costs, but he did not disclose how many employees were let go or when, the business journal reported at the time.

In 2024, there were 80 layoffs company-wide, the Hartford Business Journal reported.

Syfert said in Nov. 6 conference calls that the firearms market is facing challenges similar to many industries.

“The broader market continues to face headwinds from tariff and interest rate uncertainty, inflationary pressures and a softening job market, all of which are affecting discretionary consumer spending and manufacturing costs,” he said.

Overall, the market is trending down 10 to 15%, Syfert said, adding that background checks were down roughly 4% to date compared to 2024.

The company is expected to announce its annual financial results for 2025 later this month. Ruger’s stock price closed at $38.43 on Monday. Last October, it was as high as $47.13.

Both are well off the stock’s an all-time high of $86.66 in June 2021.