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By Bloomberg

GoPro Inc. shares rose 12 percent as investors bought in ahead of employees and insiders being able to sell stock with the expiration of a regulatory lockup.

The restrictions lifted on Tuesday, putting 76 million shares of the wearable-camera maker on the market for the first time. GoPro employees and insiders will be able to start selling the stock on Wednesday, the company said.

When lockups expire, stocks often fall as insiders look to cash in some of their shares. Twitter Inc. dropped 13 percent last May after such restrictions lifted on a tranche of stock. Yet Northland Securities Inc. analyst Gus Richard, who initiated coverage of GoPro on Tuesday with the equivalent of a buy recommendation, said fears of an employee selloff created an attractive entry point for a company with a “high-quality, high-growth consumer franchise.”

GoPro shares rose to $50.92 at the close in New York, the biggest gain since Oct. 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The San Mateo, California-based company went public last June at $24 a share.

Jeff Brown, a spokesman for GoPro, said that shares related to the lockup cannot be sold until Wednesday.

“We announced this last November, so there are no surprises for investors,” he said of the expiration of the lockup.

GoPro shares are down 19 percent so far this year. Earlier this month, the company reported fourth-quarter sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates, yet also projected a profit range for the current quarter that fell short of estimates and said first-quarter sales may fall 46 percent from the prior period.

GoPro, led by Chief Executive Officer Nick Woodman, also faces questions about overseas growth and its ability to create a media business around the videos that consumers post online using the wearable cameras.

“People love working here, they love the vision, and they love that their work matters to people,” Woodman said in an interview earlier this month. “I don’t think this will be like a lot of IPO success stories, where people run for the hills.”