The American market for "boutique" handguns is limited, and Colt hasn't been on the cutting edge of handgun development since anyone still living can remember. They can make lovely "genuine Colt" (snicker) SAA and 1911 variants for those who have to have such things, but I don't see much potential for growth. There is always some market for Pythons, Detective Specials and 1851 Navies if they could make them as of old, but again, handguns like that are not what people are regularly buying and shooting these days, and most investors are sharp enough to know it.
As for the slump in long guns, their ARs really are the yardstick by which others are measured, and not priced much more than "just as good" (but really aren't) imitations. I suspect there are a lot of people who couldn't find/afford a Colt AR during this last buying frenzy, and they bought the lower-tier stuff that WAS available. These people are now cash-poor and sitting with a sub-par competitor's carbine tucked away in the closet. Colt's production may have finally caught up, but in the meantime, potential customers (including those suffering from buyer's remorse) are getting relentless blows to the pocketbook courtesy of Obama & Company. Bad bit of luck, that.
The problem for Colt is that the margins aren't as good for commercial long guns as they are for the military versions, and of course commercial sales cannot match military' sales for volume. The other problem is the 'build to order nature of their products which takes both time and money to produce.
What Colt needs is a large military order from a country that values quality and performance over price, and maybe wants to distinguish itself from its neighbors.