GoPro narrows losses in 2025, banks on AI chip for recovery

GoPro closed 2025 with $652 million (€601m) in revenue – down 19 percent from the prior year – and a GAAP net loss of $93 million (€86m), as hardware volumes fell sharply and the company continued burning through a costly restructuring cycle. Yet beneath the headline decline, a more disciplined cost structure and a proprietary next-generation processor in the pipeline suggest the California-based camera maker has not given up on a credible turnaround.

Reporting full-year and fourth-quarter results on March 5, the company showed that operating expenses were cut by $93 million (€86m) year-over-year to $261 million (€240m) – a 26 percent reduction – driven by prior-period restructuring actions and ongoing cost controls.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved from a loss of $72 million (€66m) in 2024 to negative $29 million (€27m). Cash flow from operations improved by $104 million (€96m) year-over-year, reaching negative $21 million (€19m) for the full year, with three consecutive quarters of positive operating cash flow into year-end.

Hardware volumes slide, subscriptions hold

Hardware remained the company’s biggest revenue driver, but its grip loosened. Camera sell-through fell 20 percent to about 2 million units for the year, while hardware revenue slid to $545 million (€502m) from $695 million (€640m) in 2024.

Subscription and service revenue, meanwhile, was broadly unchanged at 16 percent of total revenue. The performance was underpinned by higher average revenue per user and better retention, even as the subscriber base shrank 7 percent to 2.36 million by year-end.

Average selling prices rose 8 percent year over year to $357 (€329) per unit, reflecting a more premium-tilted product mix. Retail generated $482 million (€444m), or 74 percent of annual revenue, while GoPro.com – including subscriptions – contributed the remaining $170 million (€157m).

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $202 million (€186m), flat year over year but below the company’s guidance. Sell-through of 625,000 units reduced channel inventory by 30,000 units, and adjusted EBITDA moved to a $1 million (€0.9m) profit from a $14 million (€13m) loss a year earlier. Gross margin narrowed slightly, a relatively resilient result as tariff-related costs weighed on the quarter.

GP3: The processor GoPro is betting on

GoPro is staking its next hardware cycle on GP3, a proprietary image processor that the company says will underpin a new camera lineup starting in the second quarter of 2026. The chip shifts from a 12-nanometer design to a 5-nanometer system-on-chip (SoC) architecture, which GoPro says more than doubles the pixel processing power of GP2. The company also is pitching gains in power efficiency and thermal performance, citing internal tests that show run times 40 percent to 90 percent longer than competing products.

A key change is a dedicated AI processing unit (MPU) aimed at improving low-light performance, a category where GoPro has said GP2 left it unable to compete at the premium end. The company estimates that premium low-light cameras accounted for roughly 2 million to 2.5 million units in 2025, making the segment a potential lever to expand its total addressable market.

Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman cast the processor as a turning point: “GoPro is entering a new era of performance and innovation that we believe will expand our TAM [total addressable market] and strengthen our financial performance.”

AI content licensing opens a new revenue stream

Beyond the hardware cycle, GoPro has been building a content licensing program that allows subscribers to monetize their footage for artificial intelligence model training. Since launching in the third quarter of 2025, the program has received more than 500,000 hours of video submissions from opted-in US subscribers. Revenue from the initiative is expected to be recognized in the first quarter of 2026, with participant payouts following later in the year.

Management cited the program as a high-margin, scalable revenue stream – one that diversifies income beyond hardware and subscriptions. Additional third-party licensing agreements are being pursued throughout 2026.

Leadership changes and 2026 outlook

Alongside the results, GoPro announced that Brian McGee, currently Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the additional title of President effective March 17, 2026. Brian Trapp, the company’s Vice President of Finance and a 13-year GoPro veteran, will succeed McGee as CFO on the same date.

For 2026, management is guiding for revenue of $750 million to $800 million (€691m–€738m). That implies about 20 percent growth at the midpoint, driven by new product launches and contributions from its AI content licensing program. Subscription and service revenue is expected to rise about 10 percent on higher average revenue per user. Subscriber count, however, is forecast to fall another 7 percent to around 2.2 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is projected at $10 million to $20 million (€9m–€18m), a sharp swing from a $29 million (€27m) loss last year. Management also warned that higher memory prices could squeeze gross margin by about 500 basis points year over year, the biggest near-term risk to the recovery story.

Conclusion: GoPro’s 2026 comeback bet looks high risk

The 2026 outlook is ambitious. Revenue guidance of $750–$800 million (€691m–€738m) would require nearly reversing two years of consecutive double-digit declines, premised on technology that has not yet shipped and a licensing program still in its early stages. Management itself flagged “heightened uncertainty” from tariff volatility, memory pricing and availability, consumer confidence and global macroeconomic conditions.

Cash reserves at year-end 2025 stood at $50 million (€46m), down from $103 million (€95m) a year earlier, leaving limited operational runway should the GP3 launch disappoint or macro conditions deteriorate. The turnaround narrative deserves watching – but also scrutiny.