Roblox raises annual bookings forecast as viral hits spur spending boom
(Reuters) -Roblox raised its forecast for annual bookings on Thursday and crossed 100 million in daily active users on its videogame platform, riding on the success of viral hits such as "Grow a Garden" and sending its shares up 12.4% before the bell.
Many of the platform's games have become highly popular due to their free-to-play nature and wide availability, drawing millions of users across diverse age groups and demographics.
Average daily active users, a key measure of engagement, grew 41% to 111.8 million in the second quarter, while hours engaged jumped 58% to 27.4 billion.
A large portion of the engagement and bookings growth in the second quarter came from "Grow a Garden", a tycoon-style game which allows players to grow their plots of land by trading seeds and plants.
In June, the game set a world record for the most concurrent players to play a videogame, highlighting Roblox's reach across geographies.
The company has been investing in search and discovery features that allow greater visibility for games like "Grow a Garden", with already healthy engagements, the company's newly appointed CFO, Naveen Chopra, told Reuters.
In an uncertain economy, Roblox is diversifying its revenue sources beyond gaming and turning the platform into a hub for socializing, commerce and advertising.
Such efforts have excited investors, who have more than doubled the company's shares so far this year, far outperforming rival videogame publishers.
Roblox now expects fiscal 2025 bookings of between $5.87 billion and $5.97 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $5.29 billion to $5.36 billion.
It forecast third-quarter bookings between $1.59 billion and $1.64 billion, compared with an estimate of $1.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Bookings for the second quarter came in at $1.44 billion, beating market estimates of $1.24 billion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump, Carney to speak soon, Canadian official says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk "over the next number of days" after the U.S. imposed a 35% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he believes there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down tariffs. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ed Kelce, Travis and Jason's dad, mourns death of 'beloved friend' Maureen Maguire
Travis and Jason Kelce's dad has shared news of the death of a loved one. Ed Kelce, father of the football stars, announced the loss of Maureen Maguire, 74, in a Facebook post on Saturday, Aug. 2. He shared a link to an obituary that described Maguire as his "beloved friend," though a Los Angeles Times interview with Kelce published in 2024 noted Maguire was his girlfriend. Maguire, a former elementary school teacher who was born in New York but spent most of her life in Philadelphia, "passed away peacefully surrounded by her loved ones," according to the obituary. She "grew an unexpected love for football later in life, sharing many laughs and adventures with her beloved friend Ed Kelce and her loyal dog Butch," the obituary also read. "Together, they traveled often and attended football games and concerts, and embraced every opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest." Maguire was predeceased by her husband, Daniel J. Maguire Jr., and is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, and her sister and brother. Travis Kelce finally posts Taylor Swift photos on Instagram: See the couple's date nights Ed Kelce was previously married to Donna Kelce, Travis and Jason's mother, for more than 20 years. In an appearance on her sons' "New Heights" podcast in 2023, Donna Kelce noted that she and Ed are "friends to this day," adding, "We get along great. It's just sometimes people move apart, that's all." Travis Kelce consoled by Taylor Swift as retirement rumors swirl after Super Bowl loss "We're like a tag team with you two," she added, addressing Jason and Travis. "When one of you had to go out of town, another person would help the other child, so it was perfect." Speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 2024, Ed Kelce revealed an amusing interaction Maguire had with Travis Kelce's girlfriend, Taylor Swift, soon after they met. When Swift was posing for a photo with Ed Kelce and nuzzled up to him, Maguire jokingly warned, "Hey, that's my boyfriend," according to the Times, which said the singer "laughed and struck something closer to a father-daughter pose." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ed Kelce mourns death of 'beloved friend' Maureen Maguire
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dez Bryant, Roc Nation take issue with Jerry Jones
The recent Jerry Jones word potato salad regarding his direct negotiations with linebacker Micah Parsons included a gratuitous slap at former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant and his agent, Jay-Z. Via Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jones had this to say about Bryant and Jay-Z: '[W]hen we have a problem with the player, the agent is nowhere to be found. Jay-Z said that Dez would make all meetings. Jay-Z and I negotiated the contract, spent hours. He said, 'Anybody in my organization is on time.' He said, 'My office used to be on the street corner, and I've always been early. So, they will be on time.' And what did I say? I said, 'I'm going to call you [when I have a problem].' He quit taking my call.' Bryant responded on Twitter, with an all-caps warning for Jerry. (We've edited it, so that we're not screaming at your eyeballs.) "Jerry Jones," Bryant said, "I don't think it's smart to mention my name. I kept quiet about a lot of unfair shit. On some G shit. We can have story time if that's what we are doing." Jay-Z's sports agency, Roc Nation, issued a separate statement that takes issue with the claim that Jay-Z stopped taking Jerry's calls. (Again, we've edited it from the all-caps tweet.) "In 2015, at the 21 Club, on a napkin, Jerry Jones, Juan Perez, Shawn 'Jay-Z' Carter, and Stephen Jones negotiated a five-year, $70 million deal, which included a $45 million guarantee and a $20 million signing bonus for Dez Bryant. At the time, it was the second-largest contract for a wide receiver in NFL history. "The claim that Mr. Carter or Roc Nation representatives did not return a call from Jerry Jones is not only a false statement, but it's also a comical one." Setting aside the question of how Jay-Z was directly negotiating NFL contracts without being licensed by the NFLPA to do so, the currently salient point is this. Jerry Jones, in trying to put out the fire arising from Parsons requesting a trade, may have accidentally turned the hose on a couple of hornets' nests. We'll sit back and wait to see if he gets stung.
