GoPro Is Going Public in $100 Million IPO

Over the last few years, GoPro has become the norm at many ski resorts across the world, from world class athletes filming spines in AK, to the beginner filming his Mountain Run experience, GoPro has gone mainstream. And now you can not only own a GoPro, but you can also own your own small stake in the company, as in February of this year, GoPro announced it is going public. With the hopes of raising $100 million in its initial public offering, GoPro could make it big, or fall on the public stock exchange.

GoPro was founded by Nick Woodman in 2004 as he attempted to create a camera he could surf with that wouldn’t break when he wiped out, as so many did. From there the company has blown up, with every action sports enthusiast and the average joe wanting these small versatile cameras. Last year GoPro raked in $1 billion in revenue and close to $60 million in profit from these little cameras, and grew an estimated 87%, becoming the largest camera brand in the world. While last years growth is promising, the current quarter has analysts wondering if GoPro is actually a solid investment.

The previous quarter saw a fall in revenue, profit and growth, which has alarmed some analysts who question whether GoPro can continue its success. As a result, GoPro has entered what many believe is an identity crisis, as they don’t think of themselves as a camera company, but rather a media and lifestyle company. In the end this may be a smart move, as they don’t want to go the way of the GPS manufacturers of the early 2000’s, such as TomTom, who reigned the GPS market for a short while, but now GPS is in everyones smartphone, and GPS companies are nothing. It remains to be seen if the company’s dreams of becoming a diversified media giant will come to fruition as they move toward their IPO. Wall Street can be a fickle place, as many analyst are already questioning whether GoPro can pull off being a publicly traded company. GoPro will trade on the Nasdaq index under GPRO.