Streaming platform and hardware company Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) reported fourth-quarter financial results after the market close Thursday.
Here are the key highlights.
What Happened: Roku reported fourth-quarter revenue of $984.42 million, which was up 14% year-over-year. The revenue came in ahead of a Street consensus estimate of $966.3 million, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company reported a loss of 55 cents per share, beating a Street estimate of a loss of 57 cents per share.
Platform revenue was $828.9 million in the quarter, which was up 13% year-over-year. Devices revenue was $155.6 million in the quarter, which was up 15% year-over-year.
Roku ended the fourth quarter with 80 million active accounts, up 14% year-over-year. The company added 4.2 million net accounts in the quarter. Average revenue per user was $39.92 in the fourth quarter, down 4% year-over-year.
The company said it had 29.1 billion streaming hours in the fourth quarter, up 21% year-over-year.
For the full year, Roku posted revenue of $3.5 billion, up 11% year-over-year. The company said 2023 was its first year of over 100 billion streaming hours.
The company had positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow for 2023, one year ahead of company guidance.
In 2023, Roku added 10 million new accounts, the company’s highest such figure since 2020. The company said its active account base is now larger than the number of subscribers of the six largest traditional pay TV providers combined.
The Roku Channel is now a top -0 streaming app in the U.S. and comparable to Peacock and Paramount+, the company said. The channel now reaches households in the U.S. representing 120 million people.
“We are pleased with our net adds despite overall TV unit sales in the U.S. being down YoY in Q4,” the company said.
What’s Next: Roku launched branded TVs in early 2023 at Best Buy and recently expanded the offerings to Costco and Amazon.com.
For the first quarter of 2024, the company expects to see revenue of $850 million. Guidance calls for a first-quarter net loss of $90 million and break-even adjusted EBITDA.
The company said the big industry trends for 2024 and beyond are live events on streaming and ad-supported options for consumers.
“Roku has the tools and expertise to drive engagement, which is critical in an ad-supported environment,” the company said. “We are well-positioned to accelerate revenue growth in future years.”
ROKU Price Action: Roku shares are down 16% to $79.95 in after-hours trading Thursday. versus a 52-week trading range of $51.62 to $108.84.