More and more of us are staying home, and streaming services are reaping the benefits. Roku is among them, and this week it updated its guidance for its first-quarter 2020 earnings results. (It also withdrew its full 2020 outlook due to the pandemic.)
As you'd expect, more people are streaming. And more people are streaming with Roku.
Roku now has 39.8 million active accounts as of March 31, 2020, an increase of 2.9 million active accounts since the end of 2019. (It added 4.6 million in Q4 2019.) That's up from the 1.4 million active accounts it added in Q1 2019, and the 1.2 million active accounts it added in Q1 2018.
Roku also said the it expects some 13.2 billion streaming hours — up 49 percent year over year.
"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 is now estimating total net revenue for the quarter between $307 million and $317 million, with a loss of net income of between $55 million and $60 million. (It's also drawing down some $70 million in credit.)
Roku will announce its Q1 2020 earnings on May 7.
Streaming TV
Roku's entry-level 4K streamer sports ultra-high definition video and Dolby Atmos support.
You can now get a Roku streaming player with 4K resolution for less than $50. Roku Premiere lands at just $39, and the Premiere+ (an exclusive at Walmart) adds a voice remote for just $10 more. Both work great and don't break the bank.
