GoPro is listed on the NASDAQ for an opening price of $ 28.65

According to foreign media reports, wearable sports camera maker GoPro listed on the Nasdaq on Thursday, opening 28.45 US dollars, higher than the IPO price of 24 US dollars higher than the 19.4%; closing price 31.34 US dollars, higher than the issue price of 30.58%.

The NASDAQ morning session on Thursday, GoPro shares have risen to a high of 33 dollars, the company's market capitalization once reached about 4 billion US dollars.

GoPro is the first publicly traded consumer electronics company since headphone maker Skullcandy went public in 2011.

Videos taken with the company's wearable cameras are popular on the Internet. The company said it has 2 million registered users on its YouTube channel, and in the first quarter of this year it had attracted over 1 billion comments.

Founded in 2004, GoPro was founded by Nicholas Woodman. During a surfing trip in Australia, Woodman was inspired by the idea of ​​making sport cameras. By selling shell necklaces along the coast of California, he raised the first funds to develop the camera.

Charlie Anderson, an analyst with US investment firm Dougherty & Co., said in a research note: "After the initial days of the iPod or iPad, there was not yet a consumer electronics brand like GoPro that was so powerful in its product category Monopoly."

Anderson estimates that GoPro already accounts for more than 90% of the sports camera market.

In 2012, extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner's sensational skydiving of 39,000 meters recorded the entire process with a GoPro camera. The video has attracted nearly 16 million comments on YouTube.

Many well-known athletes, including the Winter Olympics ski champion Shaun White and the world champion surfer Kelly Slater, have recommended the cameras to the consumers.

GoPro cameras are also popular with many well-known bands such as Rolling Stones and Foo Fighters. The company won an Emmy in 2013 for its outstanding contribution to the television industry.

GoPro itself sold 8.9 million shares in its initial public offering, with the rest being offered by its offering shareholders, including its founder Woodman and investors Riverwood Capital, Hon Hai Precision and Sageview Capital Master.

Woodman is the company's CEO and largest shareholder, holding a 48% stake, will sell about 3.6 million shares.

Private equity firm Riverwood Capital LP holds a 16% stake in GoPro. Hon Hai holds 10% of the company's shares through Foxteq Holdings Inc., a joint venture subsidiary, and Sageview Capital Master holds 6% of the shares.

Rapid growth

Due to its popularity with Wi-Fi-enabled motion cameras, California-based GoPro2 reported revenue of $ 1 billion last year, a 88% increase over the previous year; net profit doubled to about $ 61 million.

Rett Wallace, chief executive of Triton Research, a research firm based in the U.S., said: "GoPro, like Band-Aid or taxiing Uber, has become a brand that defines a product category and grows very fast. This helps them make a profit. "

The first generation of cameras from GoPro is a 35mm film camera that can be strapped to your wrist and retails for $ 30.

In 2009, the company introduced its first digital camera capable of capturing HD video and has since seen rapid growth.

GoPro sales have grown rapidly in overseas markets. In the first quarter of this year, more than half of the company's revenue came from international markets, up from 35% in 2011.

Earlier this month, GoPro announced the hiring of former Microsoft executive Tony Bates as its president. Before Satya Nadella was named Microsoft's CEO, Bates was reported as one of the candidates for the job.

The GoPro IPO sold a total of 17.8 million Class A shares at an issue price of 24 U.S. dollars, raising a total of about 427.2 million U.S. dollars.

JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Barclays Bank lead the GoPro. (Liu Chun)