Roku lifted by big jump in revenues and users

Roku’s Anthony Wood (Source: Roku)

Streaming device and platform provider Roku saw its revenues jump in Q1, rising 19% year on year to reach US$882 million, while its number of active users also rose by 1.6 million during the quarter, and by 14% year on year, to reach 81.6 million.

Among a generally strong set of numbers for the streaming outfit, streaming hours consumed was also up 23% year on year at 30.8 billion hours.

Roku said the net adds of users in the quarter, in line with the same period last year, had been driven by the sales of both TVs and streaming players.

Roku remains the number one selling Smart TV OS in the US and Mexico, accounting for about 40% of TVs sold in both markets in Q1.

AVOD and FAST offering The Roku Channel also saw growth during the quarter, with streaming hours up 66% year on year. Roku said that the app was the third most downloaded app on its platform.

The company nevertheless is offering muted expectations about full-year growth. It said that Roku faced “difficult year-over-year growth rate comparisons within streaming service distribution activities” due to comparisons with the impact of its implementation of price hikes last year, along with its already baked-in shift to ad-supported oferings.

Roku predicts revenues of US$935 million for Q2, with adjuste3d EBITDA of US$30 million.

“We remain confident in our ability to accelerate the growth of Platform revenue and continue to grow Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow in 2025 and beyond. We are focused on expanding monetization of the Roku Home Screen, bolstering programmatic ad capabilities, and growing Roku-billed subscriptions,” said CEO Anthony Wood.

“Advertisers seeking to maximize ROI need ad solutions with significant reach and innovative ad technology. Roku has a direct relationship with more than 81 million Streaming Households, and we are deepening relationships with third party platforms including DSPs, retail media networks, and measurement partners. Our business remains well positioned to capture the billions of dollars in traditional TV ad budgets that will shift to streaming.”