Tech

GoPro's hot, but for how long?

GoPro is right to focus on content: Analyst
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GoPro is right to focus on content: Analyst

GoPro created a buzz with a hot initial public offering and whether the wearable action camera maker can maintain that high depends on how well it pushes into the media space, analysts tell CNBC.

The consumer electronics firm lists on the tech-heavy Nasdaq later on Thursday after pricing its IPO at $24 a share on Wednesday. That was at the top of an expected range of $21-$24, putting GoPro's value at up to $2.96 billion.

GoPro's Hero brand camera has proved popular with athletes, surfers, cyclists and skateboarders. A push into social media, with videos uploaded onto Facebook and YouTube, is also doing well. For instance, GoPro's YouTube channel had over two million subscribers and 50 million views in the first quarter.

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"The real value for the company is likely to be on the content and how that content is displayed and how many people see it. That will be what drives this IPO," Rob Enderle, president and principle at Enderle Group told CNBC Asia Thursday.

"A hardware company doesn't pull much interest now even one as popular as GoPro, but a company that can showcase their internet shots to become a mini YouTube– that can pull a lot of cash," he added.

Tim Seymour, CIO at Triogem Asset Management in New York, said one concern is how GoPro would "monetize" and successfully convert users into content providers.

Read MoreGoPro’s focus after IPO excitement fades

"While they have a brand name that can be extended, this to me on a multiple factor is absurd," he said, referring to GoPro's valuation. "We are at a place where some of these stocks are being weighed against their functional reality and I think this is a case where the market is off sights."

Enderle at Enderle Group added that GoPro was probably six months to a year away from seeing profits from its media content.

A skier carrying a GoPro camera on his helmet.
Philippe Desmazes| AFP | Getty Images

"They may come up with a partner to market activity and get more people watching their videos rather than just taking them. They are on track to do that, but there are several steps to go before you become a media power house," he said.

GoPro, whose cameras have been endorsed by Olympic gold medal winning snowborder Shaun White, reported an 8 percent rise in revenue to almost $236 million in the first quarter of this year. Net income fell to $11 million from $23 million.

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"I think the way to think about the media business is they can certainly turn on ads at any point on some of their YouTube videos. But I also think [there is] enormous amount of strategic value to YouTube," Dougherty & Co. analyst Charlie Anderson told CNBC's "Fast Money" on Wednesday.

GoPro is the first consumer electronics firm to list in the U.S. since headphone maker Skullcandy's 2011 IPO, according to Reuters.

Its listing also comes amid a flurry of IPO activity and generally upbeat sentiment towards equity markets.

"This [GoPro IPO] is more representative of how hot the market is right now," said Enderle. "There are a lot more investors for this kind of property than there are these properties to invest in and the end result is that they can come out and do very well."