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Roku Q4 FY2023 Earnings Exceed Analyst Predictions
With an impressive year-on-year revenue increase of 13.5% to reach $984.4 million, Roku (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:ROKU) surpassed Wall Street predictions in their Q4 FY2023 results. The streaming platform also provided promising Q1 forecast, expecting revenue to amass $850 million, higher by 1.8% than analysts' projections. In comparison to the previous year's quarter loss of $1.36 per share, Roku reported a GAAP loss of $0.55 per share, a notable improvement.
The Influence of Consumer Subscription Trends on Roku
Today's consumers demand services and products that are not just readily accessible, but also highly customized. They look for online consumer businesses that offer intuitive user interfaces that meet their needs at a touch of a button. Subscription models have enhanced the use and retention of many of these online services.
Roku's Sales and User Growth
While Roku has been enjoying an average of 29% annual revenue growth in the past three years, this quarter's year-on-year revenue increase was a mere 13.5%. However, their guidance for next quarter gives a brighter picture as it forecasts a 14.7% increase in revenue at $850 million. This is quite an improvement from the slight 1% growth registered in the same quarter last year.
As a subscription-based platform, Roku relies on growing its subscriber base and the average amount that each subscriber spends to drive revenue growth. Their monthly active users have spiked by 15.6% annually over the last two years. In Q4 alone, Roku garnered 10 million additional monthly active users, signifying a 14.3% year-on-year increase.
Concerns over Roku's Decreasing ARPU
For consumer-based internet businesses like Roku, average revenue per user (ARPU) is a critical metric as it indicates average user spending. However, there are concerns for Roku as their ARPU has been on the decline for the past two years, averaging a decrease of 2.2%. Despite the growth in their user base, Roku seems to have lost its pricing power and will need to rectify this soon. This quarter, ARPU declined 0.7% to $12.31 per user.
Roku's Mixed Q4 Financial Update
Roku's surpassing of revenue expectations with its subscriber growth and the strong performance from its Platform and Devices segments are welcome news. The predicted revenue for the next quarter also beats analysts' forecast. However, the company's ambiguity in their 2024 EBITDA prediction signals some caution. Additionally, the slowdown in TV unit sales in the U.S and unstable ad market recovery warrants attention.
Overall, Roku's results for this quarter were largely positive, even though the stock dipped by 14.8% post-report announcement, trading at $80.55 per share.
