Roku Adds Record 4.6 Million Accounts During Q4, Stock Price Jumps 8%
Roku’s share price enjoyed a nice boost on Thursday afternoon, after the company — best known for its streaming devices — reported it added a record 4.6 million new accounts during the fourth quarter, while also topping Wall Street’s revenue projections.
For Q4, Roku reported $4111.2 million in revenue, marking an increase of 49% from the same period the year before; analysts had expected the company to report $391.6 million in sales. Its loss of 13 cents per share was also in-line with projections.
The 4.6 million new accounts brought Roku to 36.9 million accounts overall at the close of 2019. Those accounts watched a total of 11.7 billion hours of content during Q4, according to Roku — or the equivalent of about 3.5 hours each day per account during the fourth quarter.
Wall Street signed off on Roku’s Q4 performance at first blush, with Roku’s share price jumping 8% in after-hours trading to about $149 per share.
“2019 was a tremendous year for TV streaming as the massive shift of the TV ecosystem gained momentum,” Roku said in its letter to shareholders. “These developments were a clear indication that traditional media, as well as new entrants, plan to compete aggressively in OTT and we believe Roku is the best platform for them to engage streamers.”
Although it wasn’t given a shout-out in Roku’s shareholder letter, the launch of Disney+ likely helped drive more platform sales. Yet Roku continues to move beyond being strictly a device maker, with more than 60% of its revenue now stemming from its platform business, which includes advertising. Average revenue per user also increased 29% year-over-year to $23.14 per share.
Also Read: How Will We Know Who's Winning Streaming War if Every Service Counts Views Differently?
The fourth quarter ended with Roku solidifying itself as one of the top-performing companies of 2019, with its share price increasing more than 300% last year. The quarter also coincided with Roku CFO Steve Louden, who joined the company in 2015, sharing in December his plans to exit the company.
Looking ahead, Roku will continue to grapple with other device makers like Amazon and Apple for customers, as new streaming services from NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia are set to launch this spring.
Roku will hold an earnings webcast at 2:00 p.m. PST to discuss its Q4 results.
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