GoPro Reports Strong Sales of Flagship Cameras and Karma Drones

Wearable device maker GoPro reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, helped by strong sales of its flagship cameras and Karma drones.

GoPro, which has lacked new products and saw slower sales of its action cameras in the past year, re-released its Karma drones in February to drive demand and revenue growth.

The company, whose cameras are worn by surfers, skydivers and other action junkies, has been cutting costs and jobs to offset slowing sales growth of its flagship products and return to profitability.

GoPro said it shipped 738,000 products in the first quarter ended March 31, below analysts' average estimate of 934,000, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount, but up from 701,000 units in the same quarter a year earlier.

"The thing that may have a few people little worried, units, came in tad light," Oppenheimer & Co analyst Andrew Uerkwitz told Reuters.

The company said in March it would cut 270 jobs on top of the 200 full-time employees it laid off in December last year.

GoPro forecast second-quarter revenue of $260 million-$280 million (roughly Rs. 1,670 crores to 1,798 crores), above analysts' average estimate of $243.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"For 2017, we are targeting double digit year-over-year revenue growth," Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee said on a post-earnings call.

Revenue rose 19.1 percent, its second straight quarterly rise, to $218.6 million, beating analysts' average estimate of $207.8 million.

Net loss widened to $111.2 million (roughly Rs. 714 crores) in the quarter from $107.5 million in the year-earlier period.

Excluding items, GoPro reported a loss of 44 cents per share. Analysts were expecting a loss of 45 cents per share.

GoPro' shares were little changed in volatile trading after the bell. Up to Thursday's close, the company's shares had fallen 32.6 percent in the past 12 months.

© Thomson Reuters 2017