GoPro earnings crush expectations

GoPro shares were able to retake a key moving average in the stock market today, ahead of the action camera maker’s second-quarter earnings report set to be released after the close on Tuesday.

Revenue rose to $419.9 million from $244.6 million. Analysts expect that GoPro will post $1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GoPro Inc. said Tuesday its revenue increased 72% in the second quarter, helped by an increase in sales in Europe and Asia.

“The most significant difference between regular user-generated content and GoPro content is higher quality and footage [that comes from] in and around spaces that are not easily captured”, said 72andSunny business affairs director Michelle Slusser McKinney.

Once again, GoPro’s higher-end HERO4 Black and Silver models were its best sellers during the quarter, together representing more than 50% of total units and revenue. The company also introduced an entry-level camera that features a rear facing LCD screen. In the combined digital camera and camcorder category in the U.S, GoPro accounted for four of the top-five products on a unit basis, according to the company’s press release that cited a report by NPD.

GoPro shares have dropped 2 percent since the beginning of the year. He ended up setting a record for the fastest human free-fall, while GoPro showed the world that it was more than just a maker of durable cameras.

In addition – and again without providing much detail – GoPro reminded investors of its official confirmation in May of a GoPro-branded quad-copter with a targeted commercial launch in the first half of 2016.

In another adjacent market move, GoPro also unveiled new six- and 16-camera spherical arrays to capitalize on the market for virtual-realty content generation.

Finally, management used the conference call to provide guidance. Revenue from EMEA and APAC witnessed a collective growth of 126%.

The company reported a gross margin of 46.4% compared to 42.2% in the same quarter from the previous year.

The company’s quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also came in above analysts’ expectations as did its quarterly revenue. Its software and app are GoPro App and GoPro Studio.