GoPro Stock Gains on Earnings Beat

The company just posted a profit for the first time in five quarters

The shares of GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) are up 2.4% at $5.27 in early market trading, after the company announced fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations. This is the first time in five quarters that the company has reported a profit, and CEO Nicholas Woodman said, "With this momentum and a continued focus on expense management, we're planning for growth and profitability in 2019."

The camera concern spent the fourth quarter in a channel of lower highs and lows, bottoming out at an all-time-low of $4.00 in late December. However, GPRO stock has since broken out of that range, and is up 24.2% year-to-date. Plus, the stock is on pace to conquer its 80-day moving average for the first time since early November.

J.P. Morgan Securities already raised its price target to $7.50 from $7.00, and other analysts may follow suit, as the consensus 12-month target price of $6.43 is now only about a 21% premium to current levels. What's more, GoPro currently sports two "sell" ratings and one "hold," compared to only one "strong buy."

A short squeeze could be in the cards if the security continues north, too. Short sellers have recently piled on GPRO stock, with short interest up 24.5% in the last two reporting periods -- representing a whopping 36.7% of the stock's available float. At the equity's average daily trading volume, it would take over two weeks to buy back these bearish bets.