Roblox shares are down more than 24% after reporting earnings that missed expectations.
The gaming company reported earnings on Tuesday, recording $770 million in revenue (bookings) compared to the $772 million expected, per Refinitiv consensus estimates, for the fourth quarter. It also reported a 25 cent loss per share, worse than the 13 cents loss per share expected. Roblox said it had 49.5 million daily active users during the quarter, up 33% year-over-year.
Roblox is an open gaming platform that lets players create their own interactive “worlds.” It was the first major company working on the metaverse to go public. The company sells virtual currency to players, which is used to purchase digital items in the game. The company recently partnered with companies like Nike and the NFL.
“We have so many opportunities to increase monetization on our platform,” Roblox CEO David Baszucki said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, in response to the earnings miss. “We’re not touching advertising, we’re not touching 3D immersive shopping. We’re being very gentle on monetization relative to quality user growth, creating a safe and civil platform and driving our DAU numbers. So we are focused on user and engagement growth.”
Analysts were concerned about the slowdown in bookings and outlook.
“Our key takeaway from Roblox’s 4Q update… January 22′ bookings experienced a deceleration relative to past months, up just 2%-3%, y/y as compared to October/November/December ’21 at +15%/+23%/+21%, respectively, for example,” Stifel analysts said in a note on Tuesday evening.
“Furthermore, the company indicated y/y bookings comps, “should improve starting in the May-June timeframe,” leaving us to ponder what this suggests for February-April. Why the anticipated slowdown?”