GoPro Inc To Come Up With GoPro Awards

GoPro Inc is coming up with its GoPro Awards to intrigue buyers.

GoPro Inc, the action camera giant has been trying its best to transform itself into a content publishing platform over the past couple of years. So now they are actually running their own television channel and have also established a portal for content licensing this summer so that they can actually acknowledge creative users. A report was published by The Verge recently where it was claimed that the firm is all set to take its licensing platform by launching GoPro awards to make the service more likeable. As per initial reports, the GoPro awards are said to be programs that will function throughout the year that targets a broad range of consumers giving them the chance to make unlimited submissions. So this actually means that the people making content can submit clips that can be of any length dealing with music, action, sports, animal and family etc. The awards will be given according to camera techniques the video flaunts. As per the criteria, if still pictures are submitted then they can yield the winner $500, if video clips are submitted raw than $1000 and $5000 in the case of a full edited video. The action camera giant has vowed to award almost $5 million to users over a time span of a year. The winners will be picked on a daily basis. The closing date for submissions will be around November. The platform is so far devoted to a licensing program so it needs to be noted here that the company will have all rights to the video. This actually means that they have a right to alter it, reproduce it, modify it and broadcast it whenever they want. A video clip was submitted by the company where they explained that "you grant to GoPro and its licensees, successors and assigns a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, fully paid-up, royalty-free, right and license." But the users will have the ability to “retain all right, title and interest” on their content making them eligible for a higher compensation rate if those videos are used on platforms that are ad-supported. Many analysts believe that the GoPro Awards will prove to be a milestone when it now comes to creating a platform for the company that paves its way to success in the content domain. The core advantage of the company through this venture is that it creates an active consumer base that is forced to invest in GoPro Hero range when they see its potential.

Bidness ETC - Is Fitbit Following GoPro's Footsteps?

Fitbit has growth potential that can make them sail swiftly in the long run.

Fitbit Inc. has become a favorite stock of several investors whose shares have now experienced a 50 percent surge when they traded on the first day. Many anticipate that the company has the potential to become the next GoPro Inc. the action camera giant considering how the company’s stocks have been performing.

Fitbit in a short span of time has intrigued its audience. The company is known for producing fitness gadgets that are used to keep a track of user activity like food, health habits, weight etc. that will help users to improve their health.

The company was established in FY07 and since then it has been growing significantly. In FY14, the company recorded a net income of $131.8 million that has helped them offset a loss of $51.6 million in FY13; moreover Fitbit’s revenue has also improved substantially having an impressive growth trajectory. It has been “recorded at $745.4 million in 2014, a growth of 175% from $271.1 million in 2013.”

The market cap for the company is $6.69 billion along with the stock price to be $32.5. However, GoPro resides at $7.8 billion. Fitbit at this point needs to be consistent with its service since it has to face several major competitors that are extremely well established like Samsung Group, Apple Inc., and Microsoft Corporation etc. The reason why these firms are a massive threat to the integrity of Fitbit is that these organizations have better infrastructures, facilities, brand image that Fitbit lacks currently.

It is mere injustice to compare Fitbit with industry giants but it needs to be judged on another threshold that governs its standing. Fitbit has a strong hardware offering along with a strong data platform that ensures business to business collaboration.

As reported, after the IPO for the company was being priced at $2, which is commendable , a jump of $32.50 is pretty great considering the limited resources they have and keeping in mind the constant flux of new products, researches and innovations the company often faces. The company has an impressing $7billion market cap from the end of the tech wearable market being about $20 billion.

GoPro when it was launched observed an extremely positive response and its stocks saw a 100 percent increase in the first week only. This is merely because hardware products tend to penetrate at a faster pace making them highly sought after.

Hence in a nutshell, Fitbit does have potential and can follow the trajectory of GoPro all it needs to do is consistently offer top notch services.

Bidness Etc - Can Xiaomi Yi Take Over GoPro?

Xiaomi Yi action camera might be good but not on par with GoPro Hero.

GoPro Inc. the action camera giant has become a great commodity in its space. However, when news started to buzz regarding the launch of an action camera by Xiaomi- the Chinese smartphone manufacturer in March, many GoPro investors were scared that the companies aim to reign over the Asian market would soon fade away.

So the Yi Action Camera by Xiaomi is said to be almost less than a sixth of the GoPro Hero 4 and is said to be half the price of an action camera by GPRO. So now it is said that the Chinese camera has certain specifications that can become a potential threat to the market of GPRO products.

The question here arises whether Xiaomi’s device can be considered to be a major substitute to GoPro’s camera. One of the analysts at Wall Street Journal, Mr. Menglin Huang takes an in-depth look at Xiaomi’s action camera which is sold for $64. The camera is equipped with a 64GB built-in storage that has an approximate weight of 72 gram whereas a GoPro Hero weighs 111 gm. The waterproof depth for both the cameras that are Yi and GoPro Hero is said to be 40 meters.

The camera by the Chinese vendor allows the consumer to shoot in high definition mode at a 60 fps rate and 120 fps rate. It has the ability to take time lapses, burst shot, timer shot, single shots etc. the analyst at Wall Street believes that the image quality of these cameras is fairly average. Moreover, the camera is also made with a 16-megapixel sensor that is designed by Sony Corporation. Thus, the device is also not bad in terms of image quality but does not work well in low light scenarios.

However, Xiaomi Yi action camera has certain limitation. Firstly, the cover material is made up of plastic which seems to be relatively cheap. The device does not really have been equipped with many accessories. And the limited devices available are charged an extra price. The way it looks and feels, it is quite similar to a GoPro Hero camera but will not fit in the case.

The market for this product is quite different from GoPro and it also lacks to a great extent in terms of quality. Moreover, the limited accessories will not make the device feasible for several situations. Currently, the product has been only launched in the Chinese market but in order to be sought after by the international fraternity a lot more needs to be done.

Bidness ETC - GoPro Plans To Reach New Heights In 2QFY15

The action camera makers are expecting to report higher revenue growth as compared to the sales it made in the previous quarter.

GoPro camera business has been working towards making its sales boost right upwards since quite a long time and analysts believe that the action camera makers have been doing a magnificent job that has been showing in the increase in sales that the company recently witnessed in the first quarter of the current financial year. It has been proved by the camera producing company that all the strategies that have been adopted have turned out to be extremely profitable for it.

This statement can be verified by the number of sales the company was seen doing in the first financial quarter of 2015 where it beat the estimations and predictions of the equity analysts by a mile. The estimations made by the analysts of Wall Street were also proved to be wrong and analysts believe that that the speed the camera makers have seemed to be working upon, it will soon become of the biggest camera producers in the country.

The recent earnings for the first quarter that were announced by GoPro turned out quite positively with the earnings per share coming around at $0.52 beating predictions of $0.24 of the WSJ. On the other hand, the action camera manufacturers sold around 1.3 million action cameras in totality which helped the revenue of the firm increase as much as to $363 million. If the first quarter of 2014 is taken into consideration, it will be seen that an increase of a massive 54% has been recorded in the rise of the revenue per quarter.

Furthermore, the gross margin of GoPro (GPRO) sales also witnessed an increment from the first quarter of the previous year to around 45.1% which was recorded to be coming around at 40.9% in the past.

GoPro has given a guidance report for the second financial quarter of the current fiscal year where the revenue is expected to come around better $300-$400 million, which will see an upgrade by 59% as compared to the year before.

As for the EPS for 2Q, the expected amount per share has been expected to come in between $0.24-$0.26. The estimates and guidance that has been given by the company are much more than what analysts have been expecting from the firm which indicates that arise is bound to take place in the sales of the firm and it also shows that it believes that by the end of the second quarter, GoPro stock will be boosting its revenue growth and earnings with a huge difference as compared to the growth it witnessed in the previous quarter.

Bidness ETC - GoPro Inc. Earnings Preview for First Quarter FY15

GoPro Inc is all set to report its 1QFY15 earnings results on April 28. Specialty stores may have helped boost GoPro's sales in the March quarter because they may not have received adequate supply during the holidays.

GoPro Inc is ready to announce its first quarter fiscal year 2015 earnings report on Tuesday April 28 after market close. According to reports, the demand for cameras was more than company’s expectation during the quarter.

On April 22, in a report James Faucette, Yuuji Anderson and Meta Marshal analysts at Morgan Stanley retained their Equal-weight rating along with the stock price target of $57 on the company. Their estimation of 1.3 million units proposes a quarter-over-quarter decline of 50% in sell-through rates as the first quarter is always normally slow. However, according to their checks the sell-through rates might have only declined in the range of 30 to 40% in the 1QFY15.

The analysts also expect the company to perform better in the second quarter due to “the widening breadth of activity” at numerous retailers such as photography, skating and music stores. They stated that specialty retailers were not able to get enough stock in the holiday session and, therefore, are now witnessing high sell through rates.

In addition, the team of Morgan Stanley stated that it does not seem like as if the average selling price of GoPro Inc witnessed much of an issue. They also believe that the company will be able to surpass revenue guidance of $330 million to $340 million by the management of the company.

MS analysts retained their rating on company’s stock mainly because GoPro Inc needs to enhance its software platform. They also said that the company must come forward and take the charge of systematizing video editing and sharing via its own software platform.

Analysts at Stifel team expects the camera maker to post adjusted earnings of $0.17 per share as compared to the $0.18 a share consensus estimate on $343 million of revenue against $341 million of consensus. They also forecast minimum 1.4 million cameras shipment and nearly 10% decline in the normal selling price.

They also indicated that the company has been making heavy investments in new items. GoPro Inc. guided for general, selling & administrative expenditure of around $112.5 to $117.5 million for the quarter.

Consequently, the company will able to get more attention of the investors to its upcoming products, mainly the Hero5 cameras, which is expected to be launch later this year.