---
title: "Axon trades at 161 times earnings as it takes Binghamton from Flock; Texas's grant ban names Axon too"
description: "Axon won Binghamton University's plate-reader contract on October 19, five days after Texas's comptroller wrote Axon's name into a plate-reader grant ban. The stock is down 31% in 2026 and still priced at 161 times earnings, a price that assumes the hardware and software bolted onto each police deal keep expanding."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Markets"
published: 2026-10-20T16:19:58.338Z
modified: 2026-10-20T16:19:58.338Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/axon-trades-at-161-times-earnings-as-it-takes-binghamton-from-flock-texas-s-grant-ban-names-axon-too
language: en
keywords: "Axon, Flock Safety, Surveillance, Public Safety, Valuation, Markets"
---

# Axon trades at 161 times earnings as it takes Binghamton from Flock; Texas's grant ban names Axon too

> Axon won Binghamton University's plate-reader contract on October 19, five days after Texas's comptroller wrote Axon's name into a plate-reader grant ban. The stock is down 31% in 2026 and still priced at 161 times earnings, a price that assumes the hardware and software bolted onto each police deal keep expanding.

## A 31% drawdown meets a campus switch

[Axon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/axon), the maker of TASER devices and body cameras, [closed October 16 at $390.29](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/axon-stock-fell-6-day-172252916.html), down 6.45% on the day and 31.28% for 2026, still a $31.7 billion company at 161.81 times earnings [1][2]. On October 19, Binghamton University dropped Flock Safety's automated license plate readers and switched to Axon, taking university-owned data in an isolated cloud and 21-day retention against Flock's 30 [3]. Students had spent months forcing Flock out: [a walkout of more than 100 in May](https://www.bupipedream.com/news/binghamton-university-drops-flock-safety-switches-to-axon-enterprise-automated-license-plate-reader-system/193735/), then a petition with more than 2,000 signatures [3]. [The administration says the choice was operational, technological and financial](https://theinference.org/article/axon-s-15-million-renewal-included-36-ai-cameras-nobody-ordered-chattanooga-said-review-first), not a concession to activism [3]. The student council's counter, a resolution proposed on October 8 and not yet voted on, asks that any future plate-reader vendor face council review first [3].

## The price rests on the attach

Revenue carries that multiple: $904.4 million in the second quarter, up 35.3% from a year earlier, $1.64 billion in annual recurring revenue, and full-year guidance of 32–34% growth [1][4]. TASER devices and body cameras are the base; the marginal dollar likely comes from what the industry calls the attach, the plate readers, drones and software bolted onto an existing camera contract. No public figure breaks out how much of revenue the attach line carries. The federal base shows the pattern: agencies added more than 22,000 Axon body cameras and evidence licenses this year, and [on October 15 the Department of Homeland Security chose Axon's Dedrone counter-drone platform](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/axon-reports-significant-momentum-across-130500356.html) under a contract that discloses no dollar value [5].

*Chart: **The growth Axon's 161-times-earnings price assumes: 29%+ every quarter since 2023** Line chart of Axon's quarterly revenue rising from $413 million in Q3 2023 to $904 million in Q2 2026.*

*Quarterly revenue, US$ millions, as reported in Axon's SEC filings; year-over-year growth ran 29.1 to 38.5 percent across all twelve quarters. [4]*

## The bans now name the winner

Flock, an Atlanta company operating roughly 120,000 cameras across 49 states, is [cutting about 270 jobs](https://ijr.com/discover/flock-safety-plans-270-job-cuts-amid-backlash-461ede96), 18% of its workforce [6], after [93 cities and counties dropped its cameras in August alone](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/flock-safety-offers-buyouts-cities-174454171.html) [7]. [Texas Comptroller Don Huffines' October 14 order bars state grant money from plate readers](https://townhall.com/news/jeff-charles/2026/10/14/this-states-comptroller-just-dropped-the-hammer-on-flock-surveillance-cameras-n2684668), and its definition names Flock, [Motorola Solutions](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/motorola-solutions) and Axon Enterprise [8]. Nine Texas cities and counties have ended Flock deals; Midland saved $225,500 by terminating early [8]. In Congress, [the Ban Flock Act](https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-flock-cameras-are-located-across-america-12585086) would cut federal money from a range of plate-reader purchases [9]. St. Paul shows the drone leg: [residents rallied October 13](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2026/10/19/st-paul-skydio-drone-contract-rally/) over a roughly $300,000 police contract with [Skydio](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/skydio), a drone maker whose docked drones the organizing coalition says are [supplied through an Axon agreement dating to 2023](https://theinference.org/article/skydio-sells-the-drones-axon-collects-the-rent-boulder-s-police-drone-room-bills-1-5-million-over-ten-years); the council withdrew its application for a $200,000 federal drone grant on September 9 [10]. Axon won Binghamton five days after Texas wrote its name into a grant ban [3][8].

## The next reading is November 3

The bull case is intact: the brokerage [TD Cowen reiterated a Buy with an $825 target](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/axon-enterprise-stock-fell-6-45-percent-on-october-16-2026-at-161-81-times-earnings/70351504) on October 13, and [Raymond James](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/raymond-james-financial) kept Outperform at $675 on October 15 [1][2]. Dedrone passed $100 million in quarterly revenue in the second quarter [2]. Third-quarter results, estimated for November 3, carry a consensus near $939.4 million [1]. The open question is whether the attach grows faster than the prohibitions.

## Takeaway

Axon's 161-times-earnings price assumes the plate-reader and drone attach keeps compounding on top of its camera base, but regulators in Texas, Congress and college towns are now writing the attach's vendors into bans; the November 3 quarter is the first test of which force grows faster.

## Sources

1. [ad-hoc-news.de, "Axon Enterprise stock fell 6.45 percent on October 16, 2026, at 161.81 times earnings", 18 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/axon-enterprise-stock-fell-6-45-percent-on-october-16-2026-at-161-81-times-earnings/70351504)
2. [Yahoo Finance, "Axon Stock Fell 6% in a Day and Is Down 31% in 2026. Time to Sell or Load Up?", 17 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/axon-stock-fell-6-day-172252916.html)
3. [BU Pipe Dream, "Binghamton University drops Flock Safety, switches to Axon Enterprise automated license plate reader system", 19 October 2026](https://www.bupipedream.com/news/binghamton-university-drops-flock-safety-switches-to-axon-enterprise-automated-license-plate-reader-system/193735/)
4. [Axon quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 20 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001069183)
5. [PR Newswire via Yahoo Finance UK, "Axon Reports Significant Momentum Across Federal Sector as U.S. Government Fiscal Year Closes", 15 October 2026](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/axon-reports-significant-momentum-across-130500356.html)
6. [Independent Journal Review, "Flock Safety plans 270 job cuts amid backlash", 9 October 2026](https://ijr.com/discover/flock-safety-plans-270-job-cuts-amid-backlash-461ede96)
7. [Yahoo Finance, "Flock Safety Offers Buyouts as Cities Drop Its Cameras", 21 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/flock-safety-offers-buyouts-cities-174454171.html)
8. [Townhall, "This State's Comptroller Just Dropped the Hammer on Flock Surveillance Cameras", 14 October 2026](https://townhall.com/news/jeff-charles/2026/10/14/this-states-comptroller-just-dropped-the-hammer-on-flock-surveillance-cameras-n2684668)
9. [Newsweek, "Map Shows Known Flock Camera Locations Across America", 18 October 2026](https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-flock-cameras-are-located-across-america-12585086)
10. [Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, "St. Paul Residents Demand Release of Police Drone Contract With Skydio", 19 October 2026](https://spokesman-recorder.com/2026/10/19/st-paul-skydio-drone-contract-rally/)


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Axon trades at 161 times earnings as it takes Binghamton from Flock; Texas's grant ban names Axon too — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/axon-trades-at-161-times-earnings-as-it-takes-binghamton-from-flock-texas-s-grant-ban-names-axon-too