Roku Gains After Surge in Active Accounts Fuels Revenue Beat

(Bloomberg) -- Roku Inc. reported a surge in new active accounts in its fourth-quarter results, with the video-streaming platform benefiting from the debut of new services like Disney+. The account additions beat expectations and the shares gained as much as 13% in extended trading.

Active accounts rose by 4.6 million to 36.9 million in the quarter, compared with the average estimate of 35.9 million, according to Bloomberg Consensus estimates. Roku also reported a loss of 13 cents a share on revenue of $411.2 million. Wall Street had been looking for a loss of 14 cents a share and revenue of $391.7 million.

“Disney has had a lot of positive press out in the market and we’ve been a very good source of viewership for Disney+ and they’ve been a good partner,” Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden said in an interview.

For the first quarter, Roku forecast sales of $300 million to $310 million and a loss of $18 million to $23 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Wall Street was looking for sales of $296.8 million and Ebitda of $4.2 million.

Thursday’s after-hours move comes after a pronounced gain that has seen shares jump almost 180% over the past year. The company is one of the most visible plays on the so-called over-the-top video sector, which has grown increasingly popular as consumers cut the cord on traditional cable packages and gravitate instead toward on-demand streaming. Walt Disney’s service, launched in November, was seen as accelerating this trend.

Roku’s position within this market has made it a favorite among analysts. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, 13 firms recommend buying the stock, while two have hold-equivalent ratings and three advocate selling.

Roku’s streaming platform has had a “great” reception in Brazil after debuting there last month, Louden said. The Los Gatos, California-based company has a “huge opportunity” in international markets, where the move to streaming is still in “early days,” he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net;Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Greg Chang

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