After Topping The App Store On Christmas, Fitbit’s Stock Shoots Up

It looks like Santa delivered a lot of Fitbits for Christmas this year. After topping the App Store just after Christmas morning, Fitbit’s stock has shot up by around 5 percent in pre-market trading on Monday morning. The app this morning is now the #2 Free App on the iTunes Store, and the #1 app in the Health & Fitness category.

The stock surge has been reported by The Street and Business Insider, noting how the app jumped by 20 spots to become the top app on iTunes on December 26th. A move like that is a good indication that Fitbit sold a lot of devices over the holidays, as new users rushed to install the wearable device’s companion application.

As Engadget also previously noted, Fitbit remains the market leader in wearables, with a 22 percent market share. However, the gap between Fitbit and Apple Watch has been narrowing in recent months. According to a report this August from IDC, Apple shipped 3.6 million units in Q2 2015, just 0.8 million units behind Fitbit’s total 4.4 million units. That gave Apple a nearly 20 percent share of the wearables market.

But holiday sales could change that picture, especially as Fitbit’s product line offers a range of more affordable trackers that could have made the device a better gifting option for more price-conscious gift givers.

Fitbit has consistently done well in the fourth quarter, thanks to this trend. Last year, it sold 5.28 million trackers – more than the first three quarters of 2014 combined. And, as QZ reported, during last year’s holiday rush, Fitbit saw a nearly 250% rise in revenue from the year-ago quarter.