Source: YCharts.
What: Last month, shares of the action camera company GoPro (GPRO -1.12%) took a tremendous hit, tumbling 33% in the month, according to S&P Capital IQ data. Investors were influenced by news that Ambarella (AMBA 3.18%), a major supplier of GoPro's semiconductors, will report lower action camera revenue sequentially, and year-over-year.
So what: It's not completely surprising that GoPro investors acted the way they did last month. Ambarella is GoPro's only semiconductor supplier, and about one-third of the company's business is tied to the camera maker. So any news that Ambarella's action camera revenue is on the decline reflects poorly on GoPro's business prospects. But investors may have missed the details while analyzing GoPro's big picture.
Here's exactly what Amberalla's CFO, George Laplante, said on its earnings call at the beginning of September, "As we discussed in our Q1 earnings call, wearable camera revenues are expected to be down sequentially and year-over-year, reflecting the substantial build of newly released and existing products in Q2 of this year by GoPro and Xiaomi, rather than in Q3 as occurred in the prior years."
Investors took this to mean that GoPro won't release any new hardware in the all-important holiday season quarter. That would be a break from GoPro's traditional fall season hardware releases. It would also imply that the Hero4 Session would be GoPro's only new camera until at least next year.
Now what: While all of the above may be true, GoPro hasn't confirmed it. Which means investors could still see a new devices in the coming months. After all, while Ambarella and GoPro are closely tied together, they aren't the same company, and Ambarella's CFO doesn't speak for GoPro.
But let's say GoPro doesn't release any new devices before the holidays. Things still don't look all that bad for the camera maker. In it second quarter 2015, GoPro brought in $419 million in revenue, with $35 million of that being profit. Remember that in Q4 2014, the company posted a $20 million loss -- so clearly things are moving in the right direction.
In addition to that, GoPro will enter a completely new product category in early 2016, when it releases its new consumer drone. The new product will expand the company's hardware offerings and allow the company to move away from its one-trick-pony persona.
So while some were spooked by Ambarella's upcoming semiconductor revenue slip, GoPro investors should focus on the company's next quarterly earnings for any changes to product cycles or any sign that device shipments are slowing down. Ambarella's revenue may be falling it the coming quarter, but that does't mean investors should bail on GoPro's stock just yet.
