Fitbit's (FIT) New Fitness Wearables For The Holiday Season

Shares of Fitbit Inc. (NYSE:FIT) , a major player in the global wearable fitness segment, were up 1.84% or 27 cents on Monday and closed the day at $14.94 a share, following the company’s launch of two new fitness products ahead of the holidays.

What’s New?

Basically, the new products are upgraded versions of the existing devices, Fitbit Charge and Fitbit Flex.

Fitbit Charge 2: It will feature advanced fitness and health functionalities such as cardio fitness monitoring and guided breathing to alleviate stress. Additionally, Charge 2 will have a bigger display and provide smart notifications when in Bluetooth range of the user’s smartphone. It will also enable enhanced heart rate tracking. The user will also be able to change the bands as per their mood.

Fitbit Flex 2: It is water resistant and has an ultra-slim design that will appeal to style-conscious customers. Additionally, the Flex 2 has been trimmed by 30% in terms of size compared to its previous model so as to make it more visually appealing.

We note that this is the first update to the Flex since its launch in 2013.

Availability

Both the products are currently available for pre-sale. However, these are not expected to hit retail stores before fall. While Fitbit Charge 2 will hit the stands next month and come for a price tag of $149.95, Fitbit Flex 2 will start retailing in October and will cost $99.95.

Our Take

Fitbit is introducing new and upgraded versions of its wearable fitness devices with the holiday season knocking at the door, which should translate to stronger sales in these device categories. However, competition isn’t far behind given the fact that major players such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (KS:005930), which integrate the features of a fitness band into a smartwatch, will also have their holiday lineups. We note that Fitbit Alta and Fitbit Blaze, two of the company’s other products in this segment, are also capable of displaying health data along with text messages, notifications for phone calls and text messages.

Misfit and Jawbone also offer wearable fitness bands but they lack a screen, which gives Fitbit devices an advantage.

We will have to wait and see how these products fare during the holiday season.

FITBIT INC Price

Zacks Rank

At present, Fitbit has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology space are Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) and Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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