GoPro Inc. Extends Gains Amid High Expectations For Product Launch

GoPro Inc. GPRO extended its gains Thursday apparently touched off by rumors the company will launch a new version of its action camera in time for the holiday shopping season. Shares of San Mateo, Calif.-based GoPro, which makes consumer cameras designed for action sports, have gained more than 150 percent since its June initial public offering. GoPro opened Thursday at an all-time high of $81.50 before wavering. Shares trended upward recently 1.7 percent, even as the NASDAQ fell by a similar amount. Chief Executive Nick Woodman discussed the pending camera release with investors last month in cryptic terms, calling it "a big one." Stifel's James Jim Duffy said last week the GoPro Hero 4 Black model will launch in mid-October for $499.95, versus $399.95 for the current GoPro Hero 3. http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/14/09/4842500/stifel-weighs-in-on-gopro-inc-hero-4-black-launch Interest in the consumer action camera space was stirred further this week with news that both HTC Corp. and Polaroid Corp. are set to unveil products in competition with GoPro. Even as GoPro sets new highs, short interest more than doubled in the first two weeks of September to 10.6 million of the company's 126 million shares outstanding. Seven out of 10 analysts tracking the stock maintain Hold ratings. GoPro's most recent product launch is called "Fetch," and is designed to mount GoPro cameras on dogs. http://investor.gopro.com/releases.cfm?view=all