Roku reported better-than-expected first-quarter sales and 1.6 million new streaming accounts on Wednesday. Roku informed investors its advertising business would remain challenging despite beating analyst projections.
Revenue rose 1% to $741 million, while the firm lost $193.6 million. The firm reported 71.6 million active accounts, up 17% year-over-year. In addition, 25.1 billion streaming hours were up 20% year-over-year. Annual income per user declined 5% to $40.67.
“Similar to our viewpoint during our last earnings call, we expect macro uncertainties to persist throughout 2023,” the business noted in a shareholder letter. Inflation and recessionary worries will keep discretionary expenditure low. Accordingly, we expect the advertising market in Q2 to look much like it did in Q1, with ad spend from certain verticals recovering (travel and health and wellness). In contrast, others remain squeezed (M&E and financial services).
Roku reported that it had half of all Super Bowl streams. The business says 12% of viewers started the game through its Sports experience or a game-related ad.
Roku estimates Q2 net sales of $770 million, gross profit of $335 million, and adjusted EBITDA of minus $75 million.
A month after a second round of layoffs, Roku reported earnings. In an SEC statement, Roku said the changes were part of a commitment to minimize its year-over-year operational expenditure increase and target initiatives with a greater return on investment. In November, the business fired 200 U.S. workers, blaming industry circumstances.