Roku Bests Wall Street’s Q1 Earnings Forecast, Adds 1.6 Million Active Accounts to Reach 81.6 Million

Roku reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing the company reached 81.6 million active accounts, an increase of 1.6 million from the previous quarter, and streaming hours rose to 30.8 billion, up from 29.1 million in Q4 2023.

Wall Street forecast a loss per share of 61 cents on $848.62 million in revenue, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG, formerly Refinitiv. Roku reported adjusted loss per share of 35 cents on $882 million in revenue (+19% year over year). The company’s total net loss for the quarter ended March 31 was $50.9 million vs. $193.6 million in Q1 2024.

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Revenue attributed to the Roku platform was $754.9 million. Device sales totaled $126.5 million.

Gross profit was $388.3 million, up 15% from the comparable 2023 quarter. Free cash flow stood at $426.8 million, even with last year’s results.

“We are pleased with our Q1 results, particularly the third consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow,” Roku CEO Anthony Wood and CFO Dan Jedda said in a letter to shareholders. “We believe this demonstrates our operating discipline and leverage. Looking ahead, we face difficult year-over-year growth rate comparisons within streaming service distribution activities. This headwind is due to past price increases and a higher mix shift toward ad-supported offerings.”

For Q2, Roku is projecting net revenue of $935 million and gross profit of $410 million with a net loss of $65 million. In the second half of the year, Roku anticipates “normal seasonal spend in sales and marketing for devices, which will cause adjusted EBITDA to slightly moderate relative to the first half of the year.”

Roku stock closed Thursday at $62.81 per share and was up 6% in after hours trading upon release of the Q1 financial results. The regular U.S. stock markets will reopen at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Wood and Jedda will host a conference call at 5 p.m. ET to discuss the quarter in greater detail.

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