Fitbit crashes after projecting slowdown in sales

Shares in Fitbit were pummelled after the maker of wearable fitness trackers issued weaker than expected guidance overnight.

The stock floated to great fanfare on the New York Stock Exchange, with its shares debuting at $30.40 on 17 June 2015 - and shortly afterwards hitting a 52-week high at $51.90 - after the company had priced its initial public offering at $20.

However, starting in early August the froth began to come out of its stock price.

On Tuesday night, the San Francisco-based outfit reported that fourth quarter 2015 revenues rose by 48.9% to $711.6m, driving a 37% jump in earnings per share to 26 cents.

However, sales were seen growing at a less torrid pace than in 2015, with management predicting they would rise from $1.86bn in 2015 to between $2.4bn to $2.5bn in fiscal year 2016.

Adding to the company´s woes, on 22 February analysts at Global Equities Research cautioned investors to stay away from the company´s stock.

The market "was moving away from Fitbit" while the market for "single-purpose devices is heading towards zero andthere is nothing Fitbit can do to reverse the trend," the analysts said.

"Fitbit has zero developer ecosystem, has zero AppStore and hence it has zero sustainability power."

As of 16:06 shares in Fitbit were losing 19.79% to $14.08.people said.