One of the most troubled tech stocks jumped on speculation that Apple could buy it
GoPro shares jumped as much as 16% on Thursday after FBR's Dan Ives picked it as one of the major possible acquisition targets for Apple next year. Its stock closed at $18.83 per share, up 11.5%, and rose another 1.7% in after hours.
"We believe an acquisition of GoPro would make sense for Apple; action cameras are uniquely positioned at the intersection of Apple's smartphone, wearables, and multimedia offerings," Ives wrote in a note.
Ives did not say there was any actual evidence that such a deal was in the works, and stressed in the note that this was merely his own speculation about a deal that would make sense for Apple.
Ives added that GoPro could help Apple open up new opportunities in areas like drones and virtual reality, while strengthening its already robust multimedia offerings in iTunes and Apple TV.
GoPro shares have been tanking, losing more than 75% of its value over the past 12 months. But it's seeing nice gains everytime it's linked to an Apple acquisition rumor: Just three months ago, Northland Capital analyst Gus Richard wrote that GoPro would make a "compelling acquisition target" for Apple, and brought up its stock by over 4%.
GoPro has been struggling lately, as it missed earnings and lowered guidance numbers during at its latest earnings call. It is now trading below its $24 IPO price, after seeing an all-time high of $86.97 in October 2014.
An Apple acquisition might make for a nice story, but some analysts believe Apple is building its own GoPro-killer instead. A patent filed earlier this year suggested Apple may be working on its own camera that works similar to GoPro's, and market research firm Vertical Group reaffirmed that idea recently, writing Apple has "ample resources to build the product in-house."