The Hollywood Reporter
Roku reported a strong second quarter, with revenue rising and its net losses improving quarter to quarter, despite what the company calls a “muted” TV advertising market.
Roku reported revenue of $847.2 million, including platform revenue (which includes The Roku Channel and advertising) delivering $743.8 million of that revenue haul. The company reported a net loss of $126 million, compared to $212 million in Q1, and $110 million a year ago.
On the advertising front, the company noted that “the macro environment continued to create uncertainty with the total U.S. advertising market flat YoY in Q2. Ad spend on traditional TV declined 9.4% YoY, and traditional TV ad scatter was down 17.2% YoY (according to SMI).”
“Consistent with Q2 industry trends, brand advertising on the Roku platform remained pressured YoY in verticals like technology and M&E (media and entertainment), which was offset by increasing spend from important categories like CPG (consumer packaged goods) and health and wellness,” it added. “Also, the macro uncertainty has impacted the timing of Upfront negotiations, with commitments proceeding at a slower pace across the industry.”
Roku says it now has 73.5 million active accounts, compared to 63.1 million a year ago. The number of streaming hours rose to 25.1 billion, up from 20.7 billion a year ago, and flat quarter to quarter.
The company said in its quarterly earnings report that it expects to deliver revenue of $815 million, and a total gross profit of roughly $355 million in Q3.
And while Roku did tout some of its original programming, like Weird: The Al Yankovic Story and the Charlie Puth original series, the company added that “while we will invest in Roku Originals, the foundation of our content spend will continue to be third-party licensed content.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
