Shares of GoPro, a maker of cameras used by surfers, skydivers and other action junkies to record and post their exploits online, rose as much as 38 percent in their market debut. The company's shares rose to a high of $33 in early Nasdaq trading on Thursday, valuing the company that popularized action cameras for consumers at about $4 billion. GoPro is the first U.S. consumer-electronics company to go public since headphones maker Skullcandy in 2011. Videos taken using the company's wearable cameras have made a big splash on the Internet. The company says its videos attracted more than 1 billion views in the first quarter on YouTube, where its channel has 2 million subscribers.

Nick Woodman (R), founder and CEO of GoPro takes pictures with co-workers during the company's IPO at the Nasdaq on June 26, 2014. Getty Images

GoPro was founded in 2004 by Nick Woodman, who hit upon the idea while on a surfing trip to Australia. He raised his first funds to develop the camera by selling seashell necklaces along the California coast.

"There probably hasn't been a consumer electronics brand as dominant as GoPro has been in its category since the early days of the iPod or the iPad,'' Dougherty & Co. analyst Charlie Anderson wrote in a note to clients.

Anderson estimates that GoPro has captured more than 90 percent of the action camera market.

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Felix Baumgartner's record-setting 24-mile (39-km) jump from a stratospheric balloon was captured using a GoPro camera. That video has attracted nearly 16 million views on YouTube.

Olympic gold medal winning snow boarder Shaun White and 11-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater are among well-known athletes who have endorsed the cameras.

GoPro cameras have also become popular among bands such as The Rolling Stones and Foo Fighters. The company received an Emmy award in 2013 for its contribution to the television industry. Read MoreAfter the IPO: Here's what GoPro will focus on

GoPro sold 8.9 million shares, while the rest were offered by selling stockholders, including Woodman and investors Riverwood Capital, Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry and Sageview Capital Master. Woodman, the company's chief executive and its largest shareholder with a 48 percent stake, sold about 3.6 million shares. "They're always coming up with new ways to make it better," Michael Marks, GoPro board member and investor and founding partner of Riverwood Capital told CNBC's "Squawk Alley."