Fitbit shares are up 10 percent on the news (PDF) that the company beat Wall Street’s expectations for the company. Fitbit today reported a loss of 15 cents per share rather than 18 cents per share. Reported revenue also came in above analysts expectations: $299 versus $280.8.
This release shows Fitbit is keeping pace with the market and turning past customers into repeat customers. That’s key to Fitbit’s long-term success.
According to the company’s press release, Fitbit sold 3 million devices in the first quarter of 2017. Of the new sales, 36 percent of the activations came from customers purchasing their second Fitbit device and of that group, 40 percent of the purchases were of customers who were inactive for 90 days or more.
“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,” CEO James Park said in a press release on Wednesday.
During the last year Fitbit refreshed its entire line of products. This was at a pace that was seemingly quicker than previous refreshes. As the price of activity trackers decrease, Fitbit needs to keep pace by introducing new models to keep the product line fresh — even if the new models have similar features.