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GoPro Inc. said Thursday it swung to a deep loss in the first quarter, spotlighting the uphill battle the action-camera maker faces in broadening its customer base, though sales beat market expectations.

The loss was $107.5 million, or 78 cents a share, down from a profit of 11 cents a share, or $16.6 million, a year earlier. The company posted an operating loss of $121.4 million, compared with an operating profit of $22.3 million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a per-share loss of 63 cents, down from adjusted earnings of 24 cents a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected an adjusted loss of 60 cents.

Revenue declined steeply, falling 49%, due to price cuts the company made to its newest camera in the second half of last year. For the quarter, GoPro posted revenue of $183.5 million, down from $363.1 million a year ago. Still, the drop wasn't as bad as analysts had expected—they had projected a drop to $169 million.

Shares rose 2.7% to $11.01 in after hours trading, somewhat reversing a 6.1% slide the stock made in the regular trading session as investors anticipated the results.

GoPro backed its previous forecast for full-year revenue of between $1.35 billion and $1.5 billion, in line with the $1.38 billion analyst estimate.

GoPro is under pressure to demonstrate there is a more mainstream market for its cameras beyond its adrenaline-addicted core. The company's challenge with the camera illustrates the problem independent hardware makers face when competing against do-it-all smartphones from companies such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Corp.

GoPro's new Hero 4 Session, which launched last summer and was intended to broaden its customer base, sold poorly last year. GoPro slashed the Session's price in half last fall, and it took a $40 million write-down for lost revenue.

Write to Georgia Wells at Georgia.Wells@wsj.com and Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 17:25 ET (21:25 GMT)

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