Roku share prices shot up 8.5% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company announced better-than-expected first-quarter results with a year-over-year revenue growth of 51%. A key factor for Roku’s growth continues to be its partnership with smart TV makers like TCL, with the company estimating that one in every 3 smart TVs sold in the U.S. in Q1 was a Roku TV.
Roku generated revenue of $206.7 million during the first 3 months of the year, compared to $136.6 million during the same quarter a year ago. The company’s net loss for the quarter was $10.7 million, compared to $6.9 million in Q1 of 2018. This translates to a net loss of $0.09 per share.
Analysts had expected revenue of $189 million for the quarter, and a net loss of $0.24 per share.
The company’s hardware revenue grew from $61.5 million in Q1 of 2018 to $72.5 million. At the same time, advertising and services revenue increased from $75.1 million in Q1 of 2018 to $134 million this past quarter — a testament to the strength of Roku’s advertising business.
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Roku ended the quarter with 29.1 million active accounts,who collectively streamed 8.9 billion hours of audio and video.
“Roku had an outstanding first quarter,” the company said in its letter to shareholders. “The strength of our brand, the scale of our active account base, the advantages of our purpose-built streaming OS, and the engagement of our users make Roku an increasingly important partner for content publishers, advertisers and TV manufacturers. The shift to streaming and away from linear TV and legacy distribution platforms has enormous momentum.”
As a response to its Q1 results, Roku raised its full-year 2019 guidance Wednesday. The company continues to expect that it will surpass $1 billion in revenue this year, and now forecasts 40% year-over-year growth, up from 36%.
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