FitBit Had 'A Very Healthy Holiday'

• Fitbit Inc FIT shares are down 14 percent in the last six months, even after hitting a high of $51.64 on August 5.
• Barclay’s Matthew McClintock maintained an Overweight rating for the company, with a price target of $49.
• Fitbit's strength during Black Friday continued through the Holiday season, McClintock said.

In its press release, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN named the Fitbit Charge as one of its top-selling products for prime members during the 2015 Holiday season. There are other signs of Fitbit generating strong holiday sales, analyst Matthew McClintock mentioned.

While the Fitbit app had been among the top apps in the health and fitness category, it surpassed popular apps during the holiday weekend. On Christmas day, the Fitbit app jumped 20 spots in the Apple AAPL app store to reach the topmost position among free apps.

“We believe the strong performance of the Fitbit app is indicative of robust sales of Fitbit products over the holiday season as new users set up their devices,” McClintock wrote.

Among the objectives of the recently announced 2016 National Health Through Fitness day is to increase support for the PHIT Act, the approval of which would expand the IRS definition for medical expenses. “Fitbit products could be considered an eligible expense, making its products more affordable for consumers,” the analyst added.

Fitbit's strong holiday sales could result in additional sales in 2016, with the company benefiting from “a networking effect,” with consumers more likely to purchase a Fitbit if someone in their network already has one. Thus, people who have purchased Fitbit during the holiday season could “potentially have a multiplier effect to the overall Fitbit community,” McClintock pointed out.