GoPro forecast beats on strong demand for action cameras

(Reuters) - Wearable camera maker GoPro Inc forecast current-quarter profit and revenue above analysts' expectations, citing strong demand for its flagship Hero4 action cameras.

Shares of the company, which also reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit and revenue, rose 8.6 percent in extended trading on Tuesday.

GoPro, whose cameras are used by surfers, skydivers and other action junkies, said it was focusing on Japan, Korea and China markets.

The company said it planned to expand its offerings in China by the end of the second quarter. GoPro gets about half of its total revenue from markets outside the United States.

"It appears that entry in China which happened in January is off to a good start and it feels like they got fairly high expectations for that to continue in (second quarter)," Dougherty & Co analyst Charles Anderson told Reuters.

GoPro, which claims to make the five top-selling camera or camcorders in the United States, has said expansion outside the U.S. market is key to its efforts to boost revenue growth.

GoPro's success has prompted companies such as Garmin Ltd , Panasonic Corp <6752.T> and Polaroid to launch their own action cameras. The market has also attracted the attention of Apple Inc .

GoPro forecast earnings of 24-26 cents per share and revenue of $380 million-$400 million for the second quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 16 cents per share and revenue of $333.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

GoPro's net income attributable to shareholders nearly doubled to $16.8 million, or 11 cents per share, in the first quarter.

Excluding items, the company earned 24 cents per share.

Revenue rose 54 percent to $363.1 million.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 18 cents per share and revenue of $341 million.

GoPro said sales from markets outside the United States, including Europe and Asia Pacific, jumped 66 percent.

Separately, GoPro said it would buy Kolor, a virtual reality software maker.

"It's very clear based on this acquisition they (GoPro) are probably going to develop a camera that can record video 360 degree, the spherical video," Anderson said.

The San Mateo, California-based company's shares were trading at $51.10 after the bell.

(Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Kirti Pandey)

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