Fitbit Tops Sales Estimates on Renewed Demand for Fitness Bands

Fitbit topped analysts’ revenue projections on better-than-expected demand for fitness bands, and announced its anticipated smartwatch will debut in time for the holiday shopping season, according to Bloomberg.

Second-quarter sales were $353.3 million, a decline of 40 percent, but higher than analysts’ average estimate of $341.2 million. Fitbit reported a loss, excluding certain costs, of 8 cents a share, compared with a profit of 12 cents a year earlier. Analysts projected an adjusted loss of 15 cents a share.

The company’s slice of the wearable-device market declined to 12 percent in the first quarter, about half its share a year earlier, as Fitbit struggled to compete against less-expensive products from rivals such as Xiaomi and more advanced devices such as the Apple Watch. The company said it sold 3.4 million devices in the period ended July 1, compared with 5.7 million in the quarter a year earlier. CEO James Park said the new smartwatch will drive second-half sales.

In addition to rolling out the smartwatch, Park is trying to transform Fitbit into a digital-health company that relies less on consumers and more on corporate wellness. The company forecast sales in the current period of $380 million to $400 million. Fitbit also raised the low end of its full-year revenue outlook to $1.55 billion to $1.7 billion and slightly narrowed the guidance for its full-year adjusted loss per share to 40 cents to 22 cents.