I had a chat with Al Kasper at the SHOT show about these synthetic stocks and it was discussed about tooling costs. The cost for a mold for the 10/12 was right at 150K. When the "Edge"(now the Axis) first came about, they found a new method to build molds that only cost 15K. Originally it was speculated that the Edge rifle could be built for 50$ less than the Stevens 200 at the time, but after the first year of production it actually figured out to about 75$. Flimsy....yes, but it all about the $$$.
There is no doubt in my mind that stock could be stiffer with more thought in engineering, and about 25 cents more in material.