Roblox just delivered the kind of earnings beat that sends investors scrambling to recalculate their models. The gaming platform's shares surged 20% in after-hours trading Thursday after reporting fourth-quarter bookings of $2.22 billion - crushing Wall Street's $2.05 billion estimate - alongside daily active users that hit 144 million, far exceeding the 138 million analysts expected. The results mark a dramatic 63% year-over-year growth in bookings, proving the platform's momentum with younger demographics continues to accelerate even as the company faces mounting legal challenges.
Roblox just proved that user growth in gaming isn't dead - it's just concentrated in the platforms that kids and teens refuse to quit. The San Mateo-based company sent its stock soaring 20% after hours Thursday, delivering a fourth-quarter performance that caught even bullish analysts off guard.
The numbers tell a story of relentless expansion. Bookings hit $2.22 billion, blowing past the $2.05 billion consensus estimate, while daily active users reached 144 million - a 69% jump from the prior year that left Wall Street's 138 million forecast in the dust. According to CNBC's earnings coverage, the company's loss per share came in at 45 cents versus the expected 48 cents.
But here's the tension investors are wrestling with tonight: Roblox is growing like a rocket while bleeding cash faster than before. Net losses widened to $316 million in Q4, up nearly 44% from $220 million a year earlier. That's the price of hypergrowth in a platform business where user acquisition and infrastructure costs scale faster than revenue in the short term.
The company's Q1 guidance suggests management expects this momentum to hold. Roblox forecasts first-quarter bookings between $1.69 billion and $1.74 billion, comfortably above the Street's $1.68 billion estimate. That confidence is noteworthy given the gaming sector's recent volatility - particularly after Google spooked investors last week with its AI gaming tool announcement that sent gaming stocks tumbling.
