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Fitbit Q4 Earnings Report Could Be Catalyst For Beleaguered Stock

Fitbit ‘s ( FIT ) fourth-quarter earnings report on Monday could be an opportunity for the maker of wearable fitness devices to get investors interested in its story again. Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy said Fitbit’s Q4 report is “likely a catalyst” for its shares. She reiterated her overweight rating on the stock but slashed her price target to 24 from 60 on reset expectations for the San Francisco-based company. Fitbit went public on June 18 at 20 and climbed as high as 51.90 on Aug. 5. The stock cratered after a disappointing showing at the CES consumer electronics trade show in Las Vegas in early January. On Friday, Fitbit stock fell 2.5% to 15.60 after rival Garmin ( GRMN ) announced two new fitness wearables that will ship in the second quarter. Garmin introduced the Vivofit 3 daily activity tracker and Vivoactive HR smartwatch. The Vivofit 3 starts at $99.99 and features one-year battery life and automatic activity detection. The Vivoactive HR is a GPS smartwatch with wrist-based heart-rate tracking and costs $249.99. “While Fitbit has clearly been a very challenged stock year-to-date, we remain overweight on the stock into the Q4 print,” Murphy said in a report. “As we are now past the share lockup period, investors should begin looking at fundamentals again.” Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect Fitbit to earn 25 cents a share excluding items on sales of $648 million in the December quarter. Sales in the year-earlier period were $370 million. For the March quarter, Wall Street is modeling for Fitbit to earn 23 cents a share on sales of $485 million. In Q1 2015, Fitbit reported sales of $337 million. “We view fiscal 2016 favorably, given already announced new product launches (with more to come), the opportunity on the corporate wellness side, and an attractive multiple entry point into shares,” Murphy said. Fitbit’s newest products, the Blaze smart fitness watch and Alta fitness wristband, are set to go on sale in March. Fitbit faces a host of competitors in addition to Garmin. They include Apple ( AAPL ), Fossil ( FOSL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Under Armour ( UA ). On Wednesday, Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brad Erickson reiterated his overweight rating on Fitbit but cut his price target to 31 from 47. “Demand appears steady after the holiday, but days of inventory are higher,” Erickson said. “Our upside bias to numbers remains and valuation is compelling, but we are tempering our expectations for multiple expansion, given inevitably slowing growth in 2016, even as corporate wellness remains a free call option in the name.” RELATED: Fitbit 2016 Outlook An Exercise In Worry For Investors? Fitbit Gets Fashionable With Alta Fitness Wristband .

Fitbit Gets Fashionable With Alta Fitness Wristband

Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit ( FIT ) on Wednesday expanded its product portfolio with a fashionable new fitness wristband called the Fitbit Alta. Fitbit began taking pre-orders for the device, which sells for $129.95, on Wednesday, with retail availability starting in March in North America. Alta activity trackers feature stylish, interchangeable bands in a range of colors and materials. Extra bands in Fitbit’s “classic” style cost $29.95 each. It’s also selling luxe leather bands for $59.95 apiece and stainless steel bands for $99.95. Plus, Fitbit is working with designer Tory Burch on fashion accessories for the Alta. In addition to tracking regular activity, exercise and sleep, the Fitbit Alta includes reminders to move when you’ve been sitting too long and smartphone notifications of calls, texts and appointments. Fitbit Alta has a five-day battery life. The Alta provides personal pep talks and motivation, with on-screen messages to meet mini-goals like 250 steps per hour. It tracks steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and active minutes. It automatically recognizes when someone is exercising. Users can track their progress with a smartphone app and online tools. The Fitbit Alta ultimately will replace the Fitbit Charge, but not the Charge HR, which measures heart rate. “Alta is going to be the premier product for the biggest segment of the market, which is everyday fitness,” Woody Scal, Fitbit’s chief business officer, told IBD. “We think this will broaden our addressable market significantly by bringing in people who care a little bit more about style.” From a business perspective, Alta provides Fitbit the opportunity to sell more high-margin accessories. That’s also a focus with the upcoming Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch. Plus, the Alta provides an upgrade path for owners of Fitbit Flex devices, Scal said. “Fitbit is more than just cool stuff on your wrist or clipped to your waist,” he said. Fitbit has differentiated itself by focusing on software and building a platform for providing personalized fitness insights and coaching as well as social and motivational tools, Scal said. Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy on Wednesday reiterated her overweight rating on Fitbit stock with a price target of 60. Fitbit stock was down 1% to about 16 in midday trading on the stock market today . The Alta “combines a higher level of fashion and functionality at the sweet spot of pricing,” Murphy said in a report. Fitbit launched its latest device in tandem with New York Fashion Week. “The infusion of fashion in their product should aid the company to convert retail consumers and help drive a product upgrade cycle,” Murphy said. Fitbit competes with a host of companies, including Fossil ( FOSL ), Garmin ( GRMN ), Jawbone, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Under Armour ( UA ). RELATED: Fitbit Given Physical, Passes With Outperform Rating .  

Fitbit Given Physical, Passes With Outperform Rating

Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit ( FIT ) is the best-positioned company to take advantage of trends in digital health and real-time fitness analytics, Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz said in a report Monday. Uerkwitz initiated coverage of Fitbit with an outperform rating and a 12- to 18-month price target of 25. Fitbit was down almost 3.5%, near 16, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . “We see this market as just beginning,” he said. “We see today’s lifestyle trackers as equivalent to early PDAs: a device that has limited functionality but a precursor to something much larger.” Over the long term, Fitbit will continue to add capabilities and features to its devices and software, Uerkwitz said. In the near term, it will benefit from expanding its international reach and broadening its product portfolio. Fitbit bears think wearable fitness devices will become commodities, but Uerkwitz doesn’t see that happening, at least not in the near term. “We believe software and platform are the primary ways for Fitbit to build a technology ‘moat’ and ensure continued market leadership,” he said. Fitbit gets a Composite Rating from IBD of 40 out of a possible 99. The company faces a host of current and emerging competitors, including Fossil ( FOSL ), Garmin ( GRMN ), Jawbone, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Under Armour ( UA ). “Fitbit is viewed/valued as a one-hit wonder,” Uerkwitz said. “We see this as very misunderstood. Fitness tracking, in our opinion, is just beginning, and the end game is real-time analytics for fitness and the next step in digital health.” Retail tracker NPD Group reported Monday that Fitbit remained the leading brand in connected activity trackers in 2015, accounting for 79% of sales. Sales of connected activity trackers rose 85% in units and 110% in revenue in 2015. The average selling price for a connected activity tracker rose to $109 in 2015 from $96 a year earlier. “The increase in ASP speaks to these devices becoming more sophisticated, and that consumers are looking for better-quality devices, not just entry-level products,” NPD analyst Ben Arnold said in a statement . “This, combined with unit growth, shows that prices aren’t falling to drive demand; demand is increasing along with rising prices.” RELATED: Fitbit Is Not GoPro, Insists Analyst Despite Cutting Price Target .