GoPro Files For $100M IPO With 2013 Revenue Of $985.7M, Up 87.4% From The Year Prior

This afternoon GoPro filed its S-1 document with the SEC, detailing its financial performance as it looks to go public. The company states that it will raise up to $100 million in the offering, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ‘GPRO.’

The company’s revenue expansion has been impressive, with top line in 2011 of $234.23 million leading to 2012 top line of $526.01 million and finally, in 2013, revenue of $985.73 million.

The company is GAAP profitable to boot, reporting $60.57 million in profit in 2013, up from a more modest $32.26 million in 2012. The company’s adjusted EBITDA — a very, very non-GAAP number — for 2013 totaled $133.72 million.

How many cameras does the maker ship each year? In 2013 that figure was 3,849 (net of returns), up from 2,316 in 2012, and 1,145 in 2011. Ok, I forgot to convert those figures, by, ahem, a factor of 1,000. Thanks to @BobCasey for pointing out the error. Now, the real figures: 2011: 1.14 million units. 2012: 2.31 million units. 2013: 3.84 million units.

Given that sunny set of facts, what’s the rub? The first quarter of 2014 was not as strong as its comparable period in 2013. Revenue for the three-month period this year came in at $235.71 million. In the year-ago quarter that sum was $255.05 million. Profits also fell, from a first quarter-2013 total of $23.03 million to a slimmer $11.04 million.

As with any S-1, GoPro handicaps its results, saying frankly that investors “should not consider our recent revenue growth as indicative of our future performance. In future periods, our revenue could decline or grow more slowly than we expect.” It’s boilerplate of a sort, but it’s also accurate. Investors will have to decide if the first quarter slowdown is a blip, or indicative of a post-peak quarter.

Whatever the case, with GAAP profits and nearly 10 figure revenue, GoPro is a big, and valuable company.

Want some vanity metrics? They’ve got them: 20,000 a day are uploaded using the company’s GoPro Studio product. 6,000 daily YouTube uploads are tallied as well.

The company has more than $100 million apiece in cash and debt. The offering is being underwritten by a sheaf of banks, including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Barclays.

IMAGE BY FLICKR USER giovanni CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN MODIFIED)