Why GoPro, Weight Watchers International, and Boingo Wireless Jumped Today
The stock market continued its string of relatively calm days, with major benchmarks posting modest gains that were good enough to send the Dow Jones Industrials to yet another record closing high. The latest reading on the employment front from the Labor Department showed 209,000 new jobs created in the U.S. during July, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%. Investors took that news in stride, but they also noted the amazing lack of volatility in the market, as the S&P 500 has now gone longer without a day in which it rose 1% or more than at any time in 10 years, having last seen a big move up in late April. That didn't stop some individual stocks from posting large gains, and GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO), Weight Watchers International (NYSE: WTW), and Boingo Wireless (NASDAQ: WIFI) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
GoPro takes a pretty picture
Shares of GoPro ended the day 19% higher after the maker of drones and camera equipment for extreme sports released its second-quarter financial report. The company said that revenue jumped by more than a third on strong demand for its cameras, and the Karma drone was the No. 2 best-seller in the U.S. market during the period. GoPro still lost money, but its adjusted net loss was only about half what investors had expected to see and narrowed by more than 80% from the year-ago period. Solid guidance from the company also made shareholders happy, and those following the camera specialist now believe that GoPro's turnaround efforts have a much greater chance of eventual long-term success.
Weight Watchers gets a big business boost
Weight Watchers International stock gained 25% in the wake of the company's financial report for the second quarter. The weight-loss service said that its subscriber count jumped by a fifth to 3.5 million, and the number of paid weeks among those clients climbed by 17% from last year's figures. Earnings per share jumped by nearly half as new CEO Mindy Grossman attributed the performance to program updates and a better coordination with digital technology. Weight Watchers also increased its guidance, and although some believe the stock has come too far too fast, the company's fundamentals show no signs of slowing down in the near future.
Boingo bounces higher
Finally, shares of Boingo Wireless soared 27%. The provider of short-range wireless networks in public areas reported that its revenue jumped by a quarter from year-ago levels, and that was enough to spur optimism about the stock's prospects despite a slight increase in net losses on a per-share basis. As new orders for sites come in, Boingo sees plenty of potential for future growth in its network, and that should keep sales moving in the right direction as well. Boingo will have to work harder to make the business it's getting more profitable, but for now, shareholders are content to see interest in the local wireless network provider continue to gain momentum.
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Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends GoPro. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2019 $12 calls on GoPro and long January 2019 $12 puts on GoPro. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.