Roku shares climb after narrower than expected loss, jump in active users

Investing.com -- Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) shares were higher after the streaming platform reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss.

Revenue rose to $741 million and the per-share loss was $1.38, while analysts expected revenue of $708 million and a loss of $1.48 a share. Revenue was up 1% from last year.

Shares rose 4.6% in after-hours trading. They are up 38.9% this year.

Platform revenue, including licensing and advertising, was $634.6 million, while sales of streaming hardware and other device revenue was $106.4 million. “While ad spend on the Roku platform in verticals including financial services and M&E remained pressured, verticals such as travel and health and wellness improved,” the company said.

Roku is projecting total net second-quarter revenue of roughly $770 million and total gross profit of roughly $335 million. “We are executing against our plan to focus investments on high-priority projects while slowing YoY operating expense growth. Given our ongoing work to reaccelerate revenue growth and improve operational efficiencies, we are committed to delivering positive Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2024.”

The company said it has a partnership with Instacart, the grocery delivery platform, to help consumer packaged goods advertisers measure whether consumers are purchasing products on Instacart after seeing an ad on the Roku platform. 

Active accounts rose 17% to 71.6 million from the same time last year.