What happened
Shares of action-camera maker GoPro, Inc. (GPRO -1.12%) jumped as much as 22% in trading Friday after reporting second-quarter 2018 results. Shares were still up 19.3% at 3:15 p.m. EDT and seemed to be holding.
So what
Revenue was down 5%, to $283 million, and net loss on a GAAP basis dropped 22%, to $37.3 million, or $0.27 per share. On a non-GAAP basis, the loss was $20.8 million, or $0.15 per share, better than the $0.22 loss analysts were expecting.
Image source: GoPro.
The thing investors are getting excited about is CEO Nick Woodman's statement that "GoPro will be profitable in the second half of 2018." After years of losses and poor product launches, returning to profitability would be big for the company.
Now what
Woodman has had high hopes of getting GoPro back to profitability before, so I take that projection with a grain of salt. What's different this time is that the company won't be relying on new products, like a drone, to drive revenue and margin. But the company still needs to gain traction with its next-generation Hero camera, which will be launched this fall.
If the new Hero product takes off, the company could easily post a profit, but a few products have flopped in the last few years. Investors should be cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year.
