Roblox revenue grows 140% in first earnings report since company went public

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The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Roblox (NYSE: RBLX), today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in celebration of its Direct Listing.
NYSE

Roblox shares rose more than 5 percent in after-hours trading, following the release of its first earnings report since going public in a direct listing in March.

Here’s how the company did:

  • Loss: $0.46 per share
  • Revenue: $387 million, up 140 percent from a year ago.

The company’s net loss for the quarter was $134.2 million.

The gaming app for kids has surged in popularity during the pandemic, as schools shut down and sports teams suspended games. This translated to a successful stock market debut in March, with shares beginning trading at $64.50, a 43 percent increase from its last private financing round in January.

It closed at $64.00 on Monday before the after-hours move.

In the first quarter, daily active users rose to 42.1 million, up 79 percent from last year. Users spent 9.7 billion hours on the platform, up 98 percent year over year from March 2021.

This engagement translated to $652.3 million in bookings, up 161 percent year over year. On a quarterly basis, the average booking per daily active user (DAU) was $15.48, up 46 percent year over year.

Because much of the content on the platform is free, investors pay special attention to how Roblox monetizes its users. The more the company can grow its average bookings per daily active user, the better the company’s performance.

The company also offered early guidance for the second quarter, in the form of results for the month of April. Revenue was between $143 million and $145 million, up around 138 percent from April last year.

Daily active users rose by 37 percent to 43.3 million from April of 2020. Bookings were between $242 and $245 million, up about 60 percent, translating to an average booking per DAU between $5.59 and $5.66, up about 16 percent.

Excluding the after-hours move, Roblox stock has fallen about 0.8 percent since the start of the year, while the S&P is up about 11.9 percent over the same period.

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