Savvy Trades and Investments

[larrybaz]

APT $10.40 - $1.75, getting brutalized today after putting this in their earnings PR this morning:

So far in 2021, we are witnessing a softening in the demand for NIOSH-approved N-95 particulate respirator face masks manufactured by smaller companies like Alpha Pro Tech, creating some uncertainty in the market. Factors contributing to this include (i) increased availability of N-95 face masks resulting from manufacturers ramping up production capacity and actual production, especially in the early months of the pandemic, (ii) increased competition, driven by more manufacturers entering the N-95 face mask market since the pandemic began in 2020, as well as Emergency Use Authorization in the U.S. that has allowed foreign manufactured, non-NIOSH approved KN-95 face masks, among others, to gain prevalence, (iii) decreased demand from some distributors and their ultimate consumers in light of high levels of stockpiled inventory, resulting from a rush to obtain face masks in the early months of the pandemic, and (iv) the improvement in outlook with respect to the duration, scope and severity of the pandemic and the rollout and availability of vaccines. As a result of these factors, we expect that face mask sales, primarily sales of our N-95 particulate respirator face mask, in the first quarter of 2021 will be materially lower than in the fourth quarter of 2020, although we should still show revenue growth as compared to the first quarter of 2020. Additionally, we expect that, due to certain of these factors, specifically the improvement in outlook with respect to the pandemic and the growing number of individuals being vaccinated to protect against COVID-19, face mask sales may continue to decline in future periods.