Roku beats quarterly revenue estimates on advertising, subscriptions strength

Aug 6 (Reuters) – Streaming platform Roku on Thursday reported second-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, driven by its advertising and subscriptions segments.

Roku is awaiting the closure of a deal to be acquired by Fox Corp for$22 billion, uniting the broadcaster’s content empire with Roku’s streaming distribution footprint. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Here are some details on the results:    

• Roku, a content distributor, carries streaming apps from Paramount and Netflix and has benefited from consumers leaving traditional TV.

• The company has also focused on improving its ad-tech and content discovery tools to keep viewers engaged and attract marketing dollars from brands looking to reach cord-cutters.

• Its advertising revenue rose 25% to $673 million in the quarter ended June 30 from a year ago, while subscription revenue climbed 26% to $548 million, with both segments benefiting from the FIFA World Cup.

• Roku’s total revenue grew 21.6% to $1.35 billion in the second quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.30 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

• Its results follow those of Fox, which beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter revenue and profit, as the FIFA World Cup boosted advertising sales during a busy news cycle.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shreya Biswas)