Fitbit Sales Beat Wall Street Expectations Ahead of Google Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Fitbit Inc. reported revenue that beat analysts’ estimates in its first quarterly results since Google announced its planned acquisition of the wearable technology company.

Third-quarter sales were $347 million, the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday in a statement. That was a decline of 12% from the period a year earlier, but ahead of analysts’ projections of $345.1 million. The shares slipped less than 1% in extended trading after closing at $7.03 earlier on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Fitbit agreed to be acquired by Alphabet Inc.’s Google in a deal that could help shore up the internet giant’s consumer-hardware business while also increasing antitrust scrutiny. The companies expect the $2.1 billion transaction to close sometime in 2020.

“We continued to make good progress shifting our business toward the faster growing smartwatch category with the introduction of Versa 2, expanding Fitbit Health Solutions, and deepening our relationship with consumers,” James Park, chief executive officer of Fitbit, said in the statement.

“The continued success of the Fitbit brand is built on the trust of our users, and our commitment to strong user privacy and security will not change,” he added. “I’m excited about the combination of Fitbit and Google and look forward to closing the transaction.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Kiley Roache in New York at kroache@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Andrew Pollack

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