What to Know Before Buying GoPro stock

GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) is a specialized player in the consumer action-camera market. The company was founded in 2002 and had its initial public offering (IPO) in 2014. While the camera specialist saw an early run of strong sales growth, expansion momentum for revenue dried up within a few years of the business's IPO.

GoPro's sales growth started to slow in response to market saturation, competitive challenges from Chinese manufacturers, and the rise of mobile devices with high-quality built-in camera systems. While the company's share price is up approximately 29% over the last year of trading, the stock is also down 92% from its all-time high. Here's a closer look at GoPro's business and whether the company has feasible avenues to a comeback.

Image source: Getty Images.

How is GoPro making money?

GoPro's core business revolves around camera sales, but the company has continued to make moves to build recurring revenue streams with subscription services tied to its hardware ecosystem. Sales momentum for both hardware and subscription categories has been very disappointing as of late.

In the third quarter of 2025, GoPro posted sales of $163 million -- down 37% year over year. Meanwhile, revenue for the company's subscription-and-service category declined 3% year over year to $27 million. The subscription business that had previously been positioned as a key growth driver is now contracting, and hardware demand is looking weak. Despite efficiency initiatives, GoPro still posted a net loss of $21 million in Q3.

Can GoPro bounce back?

GoPro has gotten some attention from meme stock traders over the last year, but the core business is in a delicate state. The business did manage to post $12 million in operating cash flow last quarter, notching its second consecutive quarter of operating-cash-flow profitability, but the company is facing a challenging long-term setup.

As more action cameras from other suppliers have hit the market and smartphone video capabilities have continued to improve, GoPro has struggled with product differentiation. In a highly competitive tech category, the business faces eroding market share. This trend appears poised to continue unless the company can deliver new, breakthrough products.

The company has yet to see meaningful growth catalysts connected to the launch of panoramic cameras to support 3D, virtual reality, and augmented reality applications, and betting on a return to sustainable sales growth on the hardware front looks risky.

In response to challenging dynamics in the hardware market, GoPro is hoping that it can strengthen revenue and improve margins by licensing video data for the training of artificial intelligence (AI) models. The connection to AI trends has helped to spur positive momentum for the stock over the last year, but softness for the company's core hardware and subscription businesses means that GoPro's turnaround still faces an uphill battle.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.