Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) reported its shares pointed skyward Thursday, following the release of fourth-quarter results.
Revenues overall ticked up only slightly year-over-year, to $867.1 million, but easily beat expectations for $802.9 million (which would have marked a 7% drop).
Active accounts jumped 16% to 70 million, and streaming hours rose 23% to 23.9 billion. Despite the big hike in users, average revenue per user increased year-over-year as well, by 2% to $41.68.
Gross profit dipped 4% to $364.4 million, and gross margin fell by 1.8 percentage points to 42%. Operating expenses swelled 71%, and Roku swung to an operating loss of nearly $250 million from a year-ago operating gain of $21.4 million.
"Importantly, we plan to continue to improve our operating expense profile to better manage through the challenging macro environment, while building on our platform's monetization and engagement tools and partnerships," CEO Anthony Wood and Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden said in reaction. "Through a combination of operating expense control and revenue growth, we are committed to a path that delivers positive adjusted EBITDA for full year 2024."
Revenue breakout: Platform, $731.3 million (up 5%); Devices, $135.8 million (down 18%).
Gross profit breakout: Platform, $408 million (down 4%); Devices, -$43.6 million
The company's guiding to normal seasonality, and Q1 revenue of about $700 million (above consensus for $688.2 million), gross profit of roughly $310 million, and adjusted EBITDA of -$110 million.
ROKU shares $9.75, or 15.4%, to $73.24.
