Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) today announced that due to the broader business and economic uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is providing its shareholders with a brief update regarding certain estimated operating metrics and financial results for the first quarter 2020, and discussing certain business trends, in advance of its May 7 earnings call. The company also withdrew its full-year 2020 financial outlook due to economic uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roku estimates 39.8 million Active Accounts as of March 31, 2020, a net increase of nearly 3 million since December 31, 2019. Roku also expects first quarter Streaming Hours will be 13.2 billion, a 49% year-over-year increase. In early Q1, Roku completed the rollout of its “Are you still watching” feature which exits video playback after long periods of user inactivity. As previously noted, the roll out of this feature will moderate streaming hour growth; however, beginning in late Q1 Roku started to see the effects of large numbers of people “sheltering at home.” For Roku, this has resulted in an acceleration in new account growth and an increase in viewing.
For the three months ended March 31, 2020, Roku expects revenue to be slightly higher and other metrics generally in-line with prior outlook:
| Estimated Results ($ in millions) | Q1 2020E |
| Total net revenue | $307 – $317 |
| Total gross profit | $139 – $144 |
| Net income (loss) | ($60) – ($55) |
| Adjusted EBITDA1,2 | ($23) – ($18) |
“While we believe that our offerings to consumers, content providers and advertisers will enable our Company to deliver value in these uncertain times, the wider business and consumer impacts, as well as the duration of the pandemic, are unclear and thus we are withdrawing our prior 2020 outlook” said Steve Louden, Roku’s Chief Financial Officer.
Roku ended the first quarter with an estimated $587 million of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments. This includes a $70 million draw-down from its revolving credit facility. “We decided it was prudent to draw down our credit facility in light of current financial market conditions,” said Louden.
“Consumers are turning to Roku now more than ever. As the leading TV streaming platform in the U.S., Roku is proud to provide easy access to live news, free movies and TV, great paid content, and helpful programming for individuals and families who are sheltering at home,” said Anthony Wood, Roku’s Chief
Q1 ROKU 2020 Earnings Date
Roku will release first quarter 2020 financial results and key operating metrics on Thursday, May 7, 2020 following the close of market. The Company will host a live webcast of its conference call to discuss the results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 7. Participants may access the live webcast in listen-only mode from the Roku investor relations website. An archived webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Roku website following the call.
ROKU share price is up 11% in the pre-market on April 14, 2020.
