What happened
Shares of GoPro (GPRO 1.44%) jumped 18.5% in December as the action camera maker seemed to benefit from finally getting its house in order.
A large part of that might have been a direct result of the pandemic, which forced the company to focus on digital sales and reduce its retail channel inventory, a situation that has long dogged the camera company.
Image source: GoPro.
So what
GoPro didn't introduce any new products last year, but its operational excellence seemed to become more apparent as the year progressed, leading investors to bid up shares fourfold in 2020.
Inventory issues have been a concern with the camera maker, meaning it was producing more goods than consumers wanted, but this year, CEO Nick Woodman said third-quarter inventory had actually fallen 50% year over year and was down sequentially as well.
Now what
The third-quarter earnings report provided a platform for GoPro's stock to gain steam in December; then it reported record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and noted that GoPro subscribers to its cloud storage solution had surged past 670,000 members.
It also noted it had sold its 40 millionth camera since the first HD model was introduced in 2009, revolutionizing the industry as it created the action camera market.
