Roblox Plummets as Q1 Results, Guidance Disappoint

Shares of Roblox Corp. (RBLX) fell substantially in intraday trading Thursday following the release of the video game company’s first-quarter results.

Revenue Up 22% Year-Over-Year, But Net Loss Remains Nearly Identical

Roblox’s revenue of $801.3 million narrowly missed estimates compiled by Visible Alpha of $806.2 million, but increased 22% from the $655.3 million Roblox reported in the first quarter of 2023.

Average daily active users, a key metric for online games, was 77.7 million for the first quarter, up 17% from the year-ago period.

The company reported another net loss of $270.6 million for the quarter, equal to 43 cents per share, narrower than the $308.4 million analysts had anticipated. The loss was nearly identical to last year’s $268.3 million, or 44 cents per share.

In a letter to shareholders also released Thursday morning, Roblox said that while daily active users and hours engaged were up year-over-year, engagement “exhibited an unseasonal decline” for much of the first quarter, across a variety of regions, ages, and platforms.

Bookings Miss Estimates for Q1, As Well as Q2, Full-Year Projections

Bookings are also a key metric for the company, which it defines as “revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period and other non-cash adjustments,” which includes the sale of virtual currency used inside Roblox, plus other subscriptions or one-time purchases like gift cards.

For the first quarter, bookings of $923.8 million grew 19% from 2023’s mark of $773.8 million, but fell just short of the $928.6 million analysts expected.

Roblox estimated bookings between $870 million to $900 million for the second quarter and $4 billion to $4.1 billion for the full year, below analysts’ expectations of $939.1 million and $4.2 billion, respectively.

Shares sank more than 21% to $30.69 as of about 10:45 a.m. ET Thursday.