Fitbit Inc. (FIT) Stock Slide Continues As Alta Fitness Tracker Fails To Boost Investor Confidence

Fitbit's new Alta activity tracker has failed to rescue investor confidence, following a difficult month when the company's stock nearly halved in value after the introduction of the Blaze smartwatch.

The Alta, revealed before market open on Monday, records daily activity levels while introducing a monochrome touchscreen. Its debut has failed to reverse the company's fortunes, with stock price sinking even further to $15.82 at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday after opening at $16.45.

The company's stock has fallen 44.7 percent over the past month. For its most recent quarter, Fitbit on Nov. 2 reported $408.6 million revenue, net income of $45.8 million and earnings per share of $0.19. In the same quarter in 2014, Fitbit revenue came in at $152.9 million, net income was $68.9 million while earnings per share were $0.34.

On January 5, Fitbit introduced the Blaze, a wearable that pulled the company into new territory with its focus on fashion and notifications. The watch looks and functions like an Apple Watch, but its hexagonal shape and unconventional name did not excite investors. The Blaze is priced at $199.95.

Fitbit stock dropped more than 9 percent on the day of the launch.

Fitbit has continued to move further into fashion territory with the Alta.

Executives at the San Francisco-based company are confident that the public will be more receptive to the product than Wall Street. “Fitbit Alta will turn heads as our most fashionable device yet. The attractive, versatile design of this new fitness tracker fits seamlessly into daily life – from the gym to the office to a night out,” said James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit, in a press release. The Alta is priced at $130 and starts shipping in March.

The longer time spent wearing the Fitbit, the more data it collects. A fashionable device that people want to wear all the time should theoretically result in better activity data. The Alta features swapable bands for switching out depending on the occasion, while Fitbit will work with Tory Burch to develop new styles for the fitness tracker.