GoPro Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017 Results

SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017. The Company recorded full year 2017 revenue of $1.18 billion, flat year-over-year. Operating expenses decreased by more than 30% year-over-year. The Company ended the year with $247 million in cash and marketable securities - up $50 million from the third quarter.

"The fourth quarter demonstrated there is significant demand for GoPro products at the right price," said GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman. "Our opportunity in 2018 is to marry consumer demand for GoPro with new, higher margin cameras launching in the second half that will appeal to existing and new consumers. We are also focused on growing GoPro's subscription service, Plus, and launching new initiatives as subscription becomes an increasingly important focus for our business."

Recent GoPro Highlights:

• GoPro reduced GAAP operating expenses to $548 millionin 2017, down 34% year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating expenses were down 33% year-over-year to $476 million. In 2018, GoPro is targeting non-GAAP operating expenses below $400 million – a cumulative reduction of more than $300 million since 2016.
• GoPro strengthened its balance sheet, generating $81 million in cash since March 31^st, excluding the net proceeds from its convertible debt offering in April, ending the year with $247 million in cash and marketable securities.
• GAAP net loss for the year was approximately $183 million, or $1.32 per share, compared to a net loss of $419 million in 2016, or $3.01 per share. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter 2017 was $56 million. Non-GAAP net loss for the year, and for the fourth quarter of 2017, was $96 million and $41 million, respectively.
• For the fourth straight year, GoPro's portfolio captured more than 80% of the Action Camera category by unit volume in the U.S. in 2017, according to The NPD Group's Retail Tracking Service.
• In Europe, GoPro held 69% and 44% of the Action Camera category by dollar and unit volume, respectively, in 2017, according to GfK.
• InChina, unit sales grew by 28% year-over-year in 2017, marking 2 years of consecutive sell-through growth, according to GfK.
• In Japan, unit sales grew by 96% year-over-year in 2017, marking 2 years of consecutive growth with sell-through doubling each year since 2015, according to GfK.
• GoPro's 360-degree camera, Fusion, launched at over 1,000 Best Buy stores and B&H Photo, building on initial success at gopro.com.
• Fusion earned a 2018 Edison Award in the Media, Visual Communications & Entertainment Category in February.
• GoPro gained more than 4.8 million new social media followers in 2017, growing its total following to 35 million across all platforms, a 16% increase.
• Instagram followers increased by 26% year-over-year in 2017, with the addition of 3 million followers, reaching a total of 15 million.
• GoPro content was viewed ~700 million times on social media platforms in 2017, up more than 25% year-over-year. GoPro content on YouTube saw a 93% increase in median organic viewership per video in 2017.
• The Quik Mobile Video Editing App was installed 38 million times since it launched in 2016. Quik App installs grew 120% year-over-year in 2017.
• 'Plus' subscription service has 130,000 paying subscribers worldwide. In January 2018, GoPro expanded subscription benefits for Plus subscribers, including replacement for damaged cameras, mobile cloud backup, and greater storage capacity. This is the first of several subscription initiatives planned for Plus subscribers in 2018.

Results Summary

Conference Call

GoPro management will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (5 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss the Company's financial results.

To listen to the live conference call, please dial toll free (888) 271-8595 or (719) 325-2484, access code 2807712, approximately 5 minutes prior to the start of the call. A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible on the "Events & Presentations" section of the Company's website at http://investor.gopro.com . A recording of the webcast will be available on GoPro's website, http://investor.gopro.com, approximately two hours after the call and for 90 days thereafter.

About GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO)

GoPro makes it easy for people to celebrate and share experiences. We believe life is more meaningful when shared.  We build cameras, software and accessories that help the world share itself in immersive and exciting ways.

GoPro, HERO, Quik, QuikStories and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of GoPro, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit www.gopro.com  or connect with GoPro on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and GoPro's The Inside Line.

GoPro's Use of Social Media

GoPro announces material financial information using the Company's investor relations website, SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts.  GoPro may also use social media channels to communicate about the Company, its brand and other matters; these communications could be deemed material information. Investors and others are encouraged to review posts on GoPro's pages on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, GoPro's investor relations website and The Inside Line.

Note Regarding Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

GoPro reports gross profit, gross margin, operating expenses, operating income (loss), net income (loss) and diluted net income (loss) per share in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and on a non-GAAP basis. Additionally, GoPro reports non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA. Non-GAAP items exclude, where applicable, the effects of stock-based compensation, acquisition-related costs, restructuring costs, non-cash interest expense and the tax impact of these items. A reconciliation to 2018 target GAAP gross margin and operating expenses have not been provided because doing so would require an unreasonable effort due to the unavailability of information needed to calculate reconciling items and due to the variability, complexity and limited visibility of the adjusting items that would be excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures in future periods.

Note on Forward-looking Statements

This press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, expectations regarding our business outlook for 2018. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are the risk that our reduction in operating expenses may impact our ability to meet our business objectives and achieve our revenue targets and may not result in the expected improvement in our profitability; the fact that our future growth depends in part on further penetrating our addressable market and growing internationally, and we may not be successful in doing so; any inability to successfully manage frequent product introductions (including our 2018 roadmap for new hardware and software products and major new software features) and transitions, including managing our sales channel and inventory and accurately forecasting future sales; our reliance on third party suppliers, some of which are sole source suppliers, to provide components for our products; our dependence on sales of our cameras, mounts and accessories for substantially all of our revenue; the effect of a decrease in the sales or change in sales mix of these products; the effect of a decrease in sales during the holiday season; the fact that an economic downturn or economic uncertainty in our key U.S. and international markets may adversely affect consumer discretionary spending and demand for our products; any inability to anticipate consumer preferences and successfully develop and market desirable products; the effects of the highly competitive market in which we operate; the fact that we may not be able to achieve revenue growth or profitability in the future; risks related to inventory, purchase commitments and long-lived assets; the importance of maintaining the value and reputation of our brand; and other factors detailed in the Risk Factors section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as supplemented by Item 1A Risk Factors in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof or as of the date otherwise stated herein. GoPro disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

GoPro, Inc.
Reconciliation of Preliminary GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our unaudited selected financial data presented on a basis consistent with GAAP, we disclose certain non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP gross profit, gross margin, operating expenses, operating income (loss), net income (loss), diluted net income (loss) per share and adjusted EBITDA. We also provide forecasts of non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to help us understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends, to prepare and approve our annual budget, and to develop short-term and long-term operational plans. We believe that these measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as an alternative to, the measures prepared in accordance with GAAP, and are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. We believe that these non-GAAP measures, when read in conjunction with our GAAP financials, provide useful information to investors by facilitating:

• the comparability of our on-going operating results over the periods presented;
• the ability to identify trends in our underlying business; and
• the comparison of our operating results against analyst financial models and operating results of other public companies that supplement their GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures.

These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

• adjusted EBITDA does not reflect tax payments that reduce cash available to us;
• adjusted EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortization and, although these are non-cash charges, the property and equipment being depreciated and amortized often will have to be replaced in the future, and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements;
• adjusted EBITDA excludes the amortization of POP display assets because it is a non-cash charge, and is treated similarly to depreciation of property and equipment and amortization of acquired intangible assets;
• adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net income (loss) exclude the impairment of intangible assets because it is a non-cash charge that is inconsistent in amount and frequency;
• adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net income (loss) exclude restructuring costs which primarily include severance-related costs, stock-based compensation expenses and facilities consolidation charges recorded in connection with restructuring actions announced in the first and fourth quarters of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017. These expenses do not reflect expected future operating expenses and do not contribute to a meaningful evaluation of current operating performance or comparisons to the operating performance in other periods;
• adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net income (loss) exclude stock-based compensation expense related to equity awards granted primarily to our workforce. We exclude stock-based compensation expense because we believe that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. In particular, we note that companies calculate stock-based compensation expense for the variety of award types that they employ using different valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions. These non-cash charges are not factored into our internal evaluation of net income (loss) as we believe their inclusion would hinder our ability to assess core operational performance.
• non-GAAP net income (loss) exclude acquisition-related costs including the amortization of acquired intangible assets (primarily consisting of acquired technology), the impairment of acquired intangible assets (if applicable), as well as third-party transaction costs incurred for legal and other professional services. These costs are not factored into our evaluation of potential acquisitions, or of our performance after completion of the acquisitions, because these costs are not related to our core operating performance or reflective of ongoing operating results in the period, and the frequency and amount of such costs are inconsistent and vary significantly based on the timing and magnitude of our acquisition transactions and the maturities of the businesses being acquired.
• non-GAAP net income (loss) exclude non-cash interest expense. In connection with issuance of the Convertible Senior Notes in April 2017, we are required to recognize non-cash interest expense in accordance with the authoritative accounting guidance for convertible debt that may be settled in cash.
• non-GAAP net income (loss) include income tax adjustments. Beginning in the first quarter of 2017, we implemented a cash-based non-GAAP tax expense approach (based upon expected annual cash payments for income taxes) for evaluating operating performance as well as for planning and forecasting purposes. This non-GAAP tax approach eliminates the effects of period specific items, which can vary in size and frequency and does not necessarily reflect our long-term operations. Historically, we computed a non-GAAP tax rate based on non-GAAP pre-tax income on a quarterly basis, which considered the income tax effects of the adjustments above.
• other companies may calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

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SOURCE GoPro, Inc.