GoPro Inc has forecasted sales for the holiday quarter that were better than expected, which underscores the growing popularity of the company’s wearable, action cameras amongst thrill seekers, surfers and other action enthusiasts.
Shares at GoPro, which became a public company back in June, surged up by 14% on Thursday during afterhours trading following the posting of the company with strong results from the third quarter.
GoPro cameras are easily mounted on skateboards, bikes, helmets and even dog harnesses, and the videos taken have become popular across the Internet.
The side of the business that is social media has great metrics, as the content on YouTube increased by 92% from the same period one year ago and views of YouTube have jumped by 99%.
One analyst said that all indicates the brand awareness is growing and makes for the possibility of a very successful holiday season.
The company, based in California, launched the most recent version of its Hero4, the flagship camera and a less expensive entry-level camera during September. Both were targeting shoppers during the holidays.
GoPro is expecting profit of between 65 cents and 69 cents a share and sales of between $550 million and $580 million during the ongoing quarter than ends December 31.
Analysts are expecting GoPro profit to be 55 cents a share while revenue has been projected to come in at $505.4 million.
At this time, GoPro is the dominant force in the market of action cameras, with industry analysts estimating its market share to be in excess of 90%.
The huge success of the camera has prompted many other companies like Garmin Ltd, Panasonic Corp and Sony Corp to launch similar cameras.
According to a service that tracks retail sales, GoPro was the leading seller of camcorders last year in the U.S.
During the recently ended third quarter, GoPro posted adjusted profit that reached 12 cents a share topping the analyst estimate of 8 cents a share.
Revenue increased during the quarter by 46% to reach $280 million, while analysts were expecting revenue to reach $265.5 million.
