GoPro is getting into the drone business and now the stock is surging

GoPro shares are on a tear. 

In early trading on Thursday, the stock gained as much as 7%.

GoPro CEO Nick Woodman announced on Wednesday that the company is developing a six-camera virtual reality recording system and a drone at Re/code's Code Conference.

Woodman also said GoPro is planning to create a quadcopter that won't start shipping until the first half of next year.

In an interview with CNBC's Josh Lipton, Woodman said:

"We see similarities to the viral growth of quads, similarly to early days of GoPro. We recognize those same trends and when we consider that a quadcopter is potentially the most versatile GoPro accessory, that means it's very core to our business, and makes sense for us to get involved officially."

Lipton also noted that some analysts are bullish on this push from GoPro. 

 

The stock is down 9% year-to-date and up a massive 83% over the last 12 months.

As the stock slid this year, analysts pointed to growing competition in the point-of-view camera space. 

Here's a chart showing the pop in shares on Thursday: