What happened
Shares of GoPro (GPRO -2.86%) tumbled Friday after the company reported its first-quarter results. Though it beat analysts' consensus estimate for earnings and reported sales that were mostly in line with Wall Street's expectations, investors weren't thrilled with the company's second-quarter guidance.
The tech stock was down by 18.9% as of 2:39 p.m. ET.
So what
GoPro's first-quarter revenue increased by 6% from the year-ago quarter, reaching $216.7 million. That was just slightly below analysts' consensus estimate of $217.1 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
But the company's non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.09 easily beat Wall Street's average estimate of $0.06.
GoPro CFO and COO Brian McGee said in a press release that "The first quarter of 2022 represents another quarter of GAAP profitability, coinciding with GoPro's strategic shift to becoming a more direct-to-consumer, subscription centric business back in the second quarter of 2020."
But investors appeared to mostly ignore the company's first-quarter results and instead fixed their attention on its second-quarter guidance. Management said that earnings per share will be in the $0.04 to $0.08 range for the second quarter, well below Wall Street's average estimate of $0.15.
Additionally, the company said second-quarter sales will be in the range of $235 million to $245 million, compared to analysts' consensus estimate of $271.6 million.
Now what
Many technology stocks have been pummeled over the past year, and GoPro is no exception. Including Friday's drop, the company's stock price is down by 32% over the past 12 months.
While GoPro's profit in the first quarter was good to see, investors are extremely cautious right now as they wait for more clarity about how high inflation -- and the Federal Reserve's response to it -- will affect the U.S. economy.
With prices rising and some investors fearing that rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could spur an economic slowdown, it's not surprising that GoPro investors were concerned that the company's second-quarter outlook missed analysts' expectations.
