JPMORGAN: Google taking on GoPro is actually a good thing for the camera company (GPRO)

google pixel 2 clips

On Wednesday, Google announced its new "Clips" camera that looked an awful lot like GoPro's small action cameras. The announcement sent GoPro's shares down by about 13% in the two days following, but JPMorgan analyst Paul Coster says the new competition is actually a good thing.

"The stock looks particularly compelling here owing to a 2-day sell-off spurred by the introduction of Google Clips, a consumer-oriented capture device that validates part of GoPro's market, competes peripherally, and otherwise seems to be going in a different direction," Coster said in a note to clients.

Coster said that Google's new camera looks a lot like GoPro's cameras, but it doesn't act like them. The camera is not meant to be wearable, isn't water or dust proof, lacks sound and is generally not designed to address the needs of GoPro's action-centric audience.

Coster said the two-day selloff is overblown because of these differing target markets and thinks the stock is especially attractive at its deflated price. That doesn't mean GoPro should blow off the new camera, however.

"Two features of Google Clips should worry GoPro investors; the in-device machine learning capability, and the smartphone-based media-management and social-media based sharing features that facilitate video-based story-telling," Coster wrote.

The AI smarts that permeated every product Google launched on Wednesday were present in its Clips camera too. The camera's AI systems watch for interesting moments to capture and automatically shares those with your phone making them easier to post on social media.

This approach mirrors GoPro's latest push to make its camera more useful in a world where everyone has a smartphone in their pocket. GoPro's phone app automatically edits video from its cameras and makes it easy to share the clips on social media.

The company also is creating new use cases for its cameras by releasing software that makes editing footage from its 360-degree camera easy and unique.

Coster said that Google's approach to AI and social sharing on Clips validates GoPro's approach and confirms that the company is ahead of Apple and other companies working on camera tech.

Coster rates GoPro a buy with a price target of $15. GoPro's shares jumped 4.45% on Friday after Coster's note was released.