GoPro earnings preview: Hero could turn results around

GoPro (GPRO) is expected to report its earnings for the second quarter of 2018 on Thursday after the market closes. The camera maker has been struggling lately and is depending heavily on the sale of its core product Hero to turn its loss to profit. Investors could focus on the company’s call for the shipment of Hero cheaper camera.

In the previous quarter, the company’s net loss narrowed primarily due to a cut in expenses and the success of its low-cost sports camera. Despite a 3% rise in the number of camera units shipped, revenue declined 7% due to a decrease in all three geographical regions.

During the first quarter, executive chief Nicholas Woodman had expected the demand for Hero to improve as large retail partners like Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) began selling the product in the second quarter. Experts believe that this demand might show its fruition during the quarterly results on Thursday. Also, investors are expecting the management to share more details about the traction of its cheaper camera.

Related: GoPro beats revenue and earnings estimates; net loss narrowed

However, market analysts are expecting a 144% wider loss for the second quarter due to an 8.90% dip in revenue forecast. Most of the analysts are recommending a “hold” rating on the stock. The company has exceeded Street’s expectations in three of the past four quarters.

The company offers Hero5 and Hero6, which are the cloud-connected line of cameras, and a waterproof spherical camera Fusion. It also offers a cloud-based storage service, GoPro Plus, which enables subscribers to access, edit, and share content. The other added apps and devices include editing app Quik and mobile app GoPro App.

In 2018, the company had made a dramatic decline in the headcount by more than 250 jobs to 1,000, and the demise of the Karma drone line. The company is planning to revamp its core product line and bringing out new models in the market. Woodman believes that better manufacturing and sourcing could make the new models more profitable.

Shares of GoPro has fallen more than 29% for the past year and more than 24% for the year-to-date. However, the stock has risen more than 13% in the past three months.