What happened
Action camera maker GoPro (GPRO 5.92%) released its fourth-quarter and full-year results Thursday night, and the market received the report well. In trading Friday, the company's shares were up by 10% at their high point, and remained up by about 5% as of 3:40 p.m. ET.
So what
For the fourth quarter, GoPro's revenue grew by 9% year over year, capping off a full year during which it achieved 30% revenue growth over 2020. Much of that growth is being driven by subscription revenue and by online sales at GoPro.com -- between them, those two sources now make up more than one-third of total sales. For the year, online and subscription revenue jumped by 39% as GoPro's subscriber count more than doubled to about 1.6 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
GoPro has been improving its balance sheet as well. Total cash generated grew 64% to $539 million for the full year. The company is using some of that cash for share buybacks. Last month, management authorized the repurchase of as much as $100 million of its stock.
In 2021, GoPro booked net income of slightly over $371 million. While some of that came from a one-time tax benefit recognized in its third quarter, the company would have been profitable even without that benefit. Last year was its first profitable one since 2015.
Even after Friday's bounce, GoPro shares are down 14% so far in 2022. With the stock currently trading at a price-to-sales ratio of just slightly over 1, there could be more upside if the company continues on its current trajectory of growing subscription and online sales.
