GoPro, Inc. Stock Climbs on Camera Trade Up Launch (GPRO)

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GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) is getting a lift Tuesday morning as Wall Street signals its approval over a new camera buyback program meant to spur sales of the Hero5. GPRO stock currently is up about 4% on one of its biggest signs of life in weeks.

GoPro, Inc. Stock Climbs on Camera Trade-Up Launch (GPRO)

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A GoPro release out Tuesday announced a new “Trade-Up Program” in which it will give users a $100 discount for the new Hero5 Black, or a $50 discount for the Hero5 Session, for turning in any older GoPro Hero camera. The Hero5 Black usually retails for $399.99, while the Hero5 Session sells for $299.99.

The program isn’t being conducted via physical retail outlets, but instead through GoPro’s own Trade Up website.

The move is a seemingly desperate one for a company that’s trying to claw its way out of an operational quagmire, and whose stock is stuck in the mud.

GPRO stock, which trades around $9 per share, is down more than 60% from its 2014 IPO price of $24, more than 75% from its first day of trading and roughly 90% from its peak in October of that year.

That’s because GoPro, despite its youth, struggled to deliver robust top-line growth and actually saw revenues decline 27% last year. Meanwhile, a lean $36 million profit in 2015 flipped to a $419 million net loss in 2016.

GoPro said in March that it would cut 270 jobs (17% of its workforce) in addition to the 200 it already said it would let go in a November announcement. GoPro hopes to claw back $200 million in operating expenses via the workforce reduction.

That’s all to stem weak sales of its Hero5 products — which were criticized for not adding enough game-changing features — as well as a botched launch of the Karma drone in 2016 that forced a recall of every last unit. GoPro’s woes forced President Tony Bates out of his position last year, and the company was forced to shut down its entertainment division.

GPRO stock chart

Tuesday’s move has launched GoPro stock up and through its 50-day moving average, which it has been struggling to reclaim since March. That’s when GPRO ultimately fell back below the MA after a few weeks of mostly hovering above it.

Still, Tuesday’s gains could be short-lived. Even the Trade Up program is being met with some skepticism, with many outlets reminding readers that they’d likely make more off their old Hero cameras by selling them on eBay and other online outlets.

As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/04/gopro-inc-stock-climbs-on-camera-trade-up-launch-gpro/.

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