Is This the Turnaround Fitbit Investors Are Looking For?

[cnxvideo id=”509522″ placement=”ros”]Fitbit, Inc. (NYSE: FIT) released first-quarter earnings report after markets closed Wednesday. The company posted a net loss of $0.15 per share and $298.9 million in revenue. Consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters were calling for a net loss of $0.19 per share and $280.76 million in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.10 in earnings per share (EPS) and $505.36 million in revenue.

In terms of its segments the company reported U.S. revenue contracted 52% to $170 million, EMEA revenue grew 17% to $88 million, APAC revenue decreased 63% to $21 million, and Americas excluding U.S. revenue fell 15% to $20 million.

Other highlights in the quarter were that the company sold 3 million devices and it launched the Fitbit Alta HR, the worlds slimmest continuous heart rate wrist band. Fitbit also launched Sleep Stages that analyze light, deep, and REM sleep and Sleep Insights to provide guidance for improving sleep.

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Guidance for the second quarter is calling for a net loss in the range of $0.14 to $0.17 per share and revenues in the range of $330 million to $350 million. The consensus estimates are calling for a net loss of $0.11 per share and $350.19 million in revenue in the coming quarter.

On the books cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $729.1 million at the end of the quarter, compared to $706.0 million in the same period last year.

James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit, commented:

In the ten years since Fitbit was founded, we have transformed the wearables category with more than 63 million devices sold, over 50 million registered device users, and a global retail footprint of more than 55,000 stores. Underlying consumer demand has been better than our reported results in North America as we work down channel inventory levels, giving us increased confidence that we will enter the second half of 2017 with a relatively clean channel. While 2017 remains a transition year, we have executed on our restructuring plan and are focused on positioning the company for the next stage of growth within wearables and connected health.

Shares of Fitbit closed Wednesday down 2.2% at $5.68, with a consensus analyst price target of $7.11 and a 52-week trading range of $5.31 to $17.48. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up nearly 8% at $6.13 in the after-hours trading session.

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