Tech

GoPro shares surge 20% after earnings: 'We still have significant room to grow,' CEO says

Key Points
  • GoPro reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results on Thursday night.
  • Shares have fallen nearly 40 percent over the course of the past year, as the company has struggled to achieve profitability.
  • But shares soared double digits on Friday.
GoPro CEO Nick Woodman: Here's how we compete with better and better smartphone cameras
VIDEO3:2903:29
GoPro CEO Nick Woodman: Here's how we compete with better and better smartphone cameras

While remains popular among a niche of active, adventurous people, CEO Nick Woodman told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Friday that the company can still expand and keep a lid on expenses.

The company soared double digits on Friday after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results on Thursday night.

"GoPro is growing," Woodman said. "As we shared in the second quarter, we grew across all of our markets internationally. And we still have significant room to grow internationally. We're seeing great gains there as we localize GoPro's business to these specific regions around the world."

Nick Woodman, CEO, GoPro
Mark Neuling | CNBC

GoPro shares have fallen nearly 40 percent over the course of the past year, as the company has struggled to achieve profitability amid delays and recalls of its flagship drone and mounting competition from more rugged phone cameras.

But GoPro is poising itself to take advantage of the burgeoning virtual reality market with its Fusion camera and has embraced new forms of video editing for social media. While some analysts say that GoPro's high-end drone is among the most popular in the U.S., the drone business is still less than 10 percent of the business, Woodman said.

"We're investing in more areas now," Woodman said. "We're making investments in the drone market, and we're having success there, and we're making significantly more investments in software. .... While we are spending more than in our pre-IPO years, we're also getting a lot more done for the customer."

Still, Woodman has led the company through a campaign to slash costs, cutting hundreds of jobs.

"The momentum you're seeing in our business is really coming from our intense focus on efficiency and execution," Woodman said. "We are reducing costs wherever possible, and that's going to continue, ongoing, in the company. We are very disciplined as it relates to schedule and that's allowing us to launch products on time this year."

Woodman said he thinks of the GoPro as an "untethered lens" of the smartphone camera.

"I think the smartphone actually creates an incredible opportunity for GoPro," Woodman said. "Our opportunity is to make GoPro aligned with how people use their smartphone. ... As smartphone adoption grows, so grows the opportunity for GoPro."

With reporting by CNBC's Abigail Summerville.