Roku shares crashed 30% in extended trading: find out why

Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) blamed the much-talked-about advertising slowdown as it reported a loss for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday. Roku shares are down roughly 30% in extended trading.

Notable figures on Roku Q2 earnings report

• Swung to a $112.3 million loss that translates to 82 cents a share
• In Q2 of 2021, it had earned $73.5 million or 52 cents per share
• Revenue went up 18% on a year-over-year basis to $764.4 million
• Consensus was 71 cents of per-share loss on $804 million revenue
• Added 1.8 million active accounts versus 0.8 million adds expected
• ARPU climbed 21% but still fell short of Wall Street estimates

The California-based company also attributed its disappointing quarterly results to decades-high inflation that was hurting consumer discretionary spending. Roku shares are now down nearly 75% for the year.

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Roku shares sink on weak guidance

For the current financial quarter, Roku forecasts $700 million in revenue. In comparison, analysts had called for $893.3 million. The Nasdaq-listed firm also withdrew its full-year guidance for revenue growth. The letter to shareholders reads:

We expect challenges to continue in the near-term. In response, we took steps in Q2 to significantly slow both operating expense and headcount growth. We continue to win advertising shares and grow active accounts, and remain confident in our industry leadership, the size of the opportunity, and our unique assets.

The report comes a month after CEO Anthony Wood said Roku’s ad business was “growing like gangbusters”. Heading into the earnings print, Wall Street had a consensus “overweight” rating on Roku shares.