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 19% 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.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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