GoPro Looks to Have Bottomed

New products in growing markets can drive GoPro higher

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Oct 25, 2016
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GoPro (GPRO, Financial) has been facing major problems since last year, as the market for costly action cameras is only so big and competing players continue to capture market share by offering comparatively less expensive products. The company observed this trend last year when its top-line plunged 31% year-over-year and profits turned to losses. The stock price has reflected GoPro’s terrible performance, but I believe the stock may have bottomed.

The action camera market size is projected to surge at a CAGR of more than 22% from this year to 2023, which signifies a good opportunity for GoPro as it accounted for more than 45% of the entire industry during the previous year.

On the other hand, the company recently launched its long-awaited Karma drone, which seems like a good product considering that it is the first drone launched by the company. However, GoPro’s Karma lacks various significant features such as tracking, but there are several other features which are sufficient enough to appeal to consumers.

In contrast, drone king DJI launched its new Mavic Pro drone, which features a folding design that makes it portable and compact like GoPro's product. As a matter of fact, DJI’s Mavic Pro has several advantages over Karma, but there are several things in which GoPro's Karma is superior to Mavic Pro.

Most importantly, Karma works with its flagship HERO 4 as well as HERO 5 series camera. Furthermore, unlike Mavic Pro, the cameras used in Karma are removable, which makes it appeal to more consumers since it allows them to carry only the camera when the drone is not needed.

Apart from this, the company’s new HERO 5 Black as well as HERO 5 Session cameras support multiple languages for the text interface, as well as feature voice controls in seven languages. Furthermore, the company also publicized that it has partnered with  the largest consumer electronics retailer in India, Reliance Digital.

This partnership will allow the company to sell its products at around 1,800 Reliance Digital Stores across India. Keeping this in mind, it can be certainly said that the company will gain an international boost in the approaching quarters.

Final words

Although GoPro has been struggling on the back of several difficult quarters, it looks like the stock has bottomed. The launch of new cameras and the Karma drone can help GoPro kick-start its growth once again.

Disclosure: No position.

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