Roku Ad Revenue spikes by 82% in Q3

Roku merely missed previous projected revenue figures, reporting a net revenue of $680 million for Q3. "We are making significant progress with traditional TV advertisers, while also expanding our total addressable market to digital-first advertisers," a related press release read. "Despite the ongoing headwinds created by the global supply chain disruptions, Roku remains well positionedas a result of our scale, brand, technology, and relentless focus on the TV streaming experience."

The company added 1.3 million active accounts to total 56.4 million. Platform revenue mostly coming from ad sales increased 82% to $583 million, while net revenue spiked 51% year-over-year to $680 million, slightly missing analyst predictions by $3 million. Gross profit was up by 69% year-over-year to $364 million.

Roku reported earnings of 48 cents per share, easily beating analyst projects of 6 cents per share, but the company stock price dropped by 8.56% to $286.70 per share in early after-hours trading. Analysts projected active accounts and revenue to rise, but at a slower growth rate after last year’s boost during the global pandemic. The company recently optdd to  remove Pornhub and Other ‘Adult’ Channels in 2022.

A key metric for Roku is its active accounts, which gives investors an idea of the user base. Roku considers active accounts to be distinct user accounts that have streamed on its platform within the past 30 days. The company’s active accounts have grown rapidly in recent years — increasing from 19.3 million in 2017 to 51.2 million by 2020.

But the number of accounts is slowing down after the pandemic surge in the last year winds down. Analysts expected Roku’s active accounts to grow 23.3% in Q3, the slowest pace out of any quarter in the last four years. This growth had already been slowing down throughout Q2 when it added 1.5 million accounts. By comparison, it added 2.4 million new accounts in Q1 this year.