Roku stock surges on earnings beat, record premium subscriptions

Shares of Roku jumped more than 6% on Friday after the video streaming company posted fourth-quarter results that trounced analysts’ expectations and offered strong guidance.

Here’s how the company did based on analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 53 cents vs. 28 cents
• Revenue: $1.39 billion vs. $1.35 billion

“The biggest driver of our subscriptions business is just the secular trend of more and more services moving into a service like premium subscriptions instead of just doing their own app,” Roku CEO Anthony Wood told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin on Friday. “That’s really, I think, the core driver.”

Roku executives said in their shareholder letter that the fourth quarter was the “biggest quarter ever” for net adds to premium subscriptions. The program lets users subscribe to different streaming services, like HBO Max and Paramount+, using a single login on the Roku platform.

The company said it expects to roll out premium subscription bundles this year.

For the current period, Roku said it expects to report $1.2 billion in revenue, which is higher than the $1.16 billion expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount. It also projected full-year revenue of $5.5 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $5.34 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Last May, Roku acquired Frndly, a live TV subscription streaming service, for $185 million. The company also recently launched an ad-free streaming service, called Howdy, that costs $2.99 a month.

Wood told investors on the company’s earnings call that Howdy has the potential to become a “very large service” over time. Roku also said it’s on track to surpass 100 million streaming households this year.

Analysts at Rosenblatt Securities on Friday upgraded Roku’s stock to buy from neutral, citing the strong fourth-quarter results and several potential growth levers for the company in the near term.

“Big picture — Roku has built a formidable gatekeeper presence for U.S. streaming — half of all streaming in the U.S. on TVs goes through their devices,” the analysts wrote.

Rosenblatt noted the improved ability to monetize streaming with its partnership with Amazon, a new ad tool for small and mid-sized businesses and tweaks made to the front page for advanced ads.

Correction: Roku reported fourth-quarter earnings of 53 cents per share. An earlier version mischaracterized the figure.