Core Viewpoint - Roku and Warner Bros. Discovery are competing in the ad-supported streaming market, with Roku adopting a platform-first approach focused on CTV advertising, while WBD leverages its content library to enhance its ad-lite streaming tier through Max [1][2]. Roku's Strategy and Performance - Roku's advertising business showed strong growth in Q4 2024, with advertising revenues increasing faster than subscription revenues, excluding political ads which made up 6% of platform revenues. Overall platform revenues rose by 25% year over year [3]. - Viewership on The Roku Channel increased by 82% year over year, significantly expanding its ad-supported reach [3]. - Roku has enhanced its advertising ecosystem through a partnership with Yahoo DSP, improving audience targeting via Roku Data Cloud and Roku Exchange. Innovative ad formats have increased engagement, with Neutrogena's campaign achieving one-third of its reach through home screen promotion [4]. - The launch of Roku Ads Manager in 2024 aims to expand access to CTV advertising for small and medium-sized businesses, positioning Roku to outperform the digital ad market in 2025 [5]. - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Roku indicates a projected loss of 26 cents per share for 2025, with revenues expected to reach $4.59 billion, reflecting an 11.52% year-over-year growth [6]. Warner Bros. Discovery's Strategy and Performance - Warner Bros. Discovery's ad-supported tier on Max has expanded to over 45 markets in the last 15 months, contributing to its DTC business growth. However, this expansion has resulted in a 6.3% year-over-year decline in Global ARPU in 2024 [8]. - The company is experimenting with different advertising approaches across regions, with sports and news content removed from the ad-lite tier in the U.S. and available across all packages in Latin America [9][10]. - For 2025, WBD's consensus loss estimate is 13 cents per share, with revenues projected at $39.03 billion, indicating a 0.74% year-over-year decline [11]. Stock Performance and Valuation - Year-to-date, Roku shares have decreased by 19.9%, outperforming WBD's 24.1% decline, while both have underperformed the Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry's decline of 2.1% [12][14]. - Roku's price-to-cash flow ratio stands at 39.72X, reflecting investor confidence in its growth potential, compared to WBD's 3.66X, indicating more cautious market sentiment [15]. Investment Opportunity - Roku presents a more attractive investment opportunity due to its strong execution in the CTV advertising market, with rising platform revenues and innovative ad products enhancing engagement. Its SMB-focused ad platform and strategic partnerships further bolster monetization potential [18]. - Despite recent share price challenges, Roku's premium valuation suggests confidence in its scalable, ad-driven business model, while WBD faces ARPU pressures and a less established streaming ad strategy [19].

Company Performance - Roku's stock closed at $60.22, reflecting a +1.6% change from the previous day, but underperformed compared to the S&P 500's gain of 1.81% [1] - Over the past month, Roku shares have decreased by 12.36%, while the Consumer Discretionary sector and the S&P 500 have lost 7.73% and 6.14%, respectively [1] Earnings Forecast - Roku is expected to report an EPS of -$0.27, which indicates a 22.86% improvement from the same quarter last year [2] - Revenue is projected to be $1 billion, representing a 13.98% increase compared to the year-ago quarter [2] Full Year Estimates - For the full year, analysts anticipate an EPS of -$0.26 and revenue of $4.59 billion, marking changes of +70.79% and +11.52% from the previous year [3] Analyst Estimates - Recent changes in analyst estimates for Roku are important as they reflect short-term business trends, with positive revisions indicating a favorable business outlook [4] - The Zacks Rank system, which incorporates these estimate changes, currently ranks Roku as 2 (Buy) [6] Industry Context - Roku operates within the Broadcast Radio and Television industry, which is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector and holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 61, placing it in the top 25% of over 250 industries [7]

Core Insights - The average brokerage recommendation (ABR) for Roku is 1.73, indicating a consensus between Strong Buy and Buy based on 29 brokerage firms' recommendations [2] - The ABR consists of 18 Strong Buy and 2 Buy recommendations, accounting for 62.1% and 6.9% of total recommendations respectively [2] - Despite the positive ABR, reliance solely on brokerage recommendations may not be advisable due to their historical lack of success in guiding investors towards high-potential stocks [5][10] Brokerage Recommendations - Brokerage firms often exhibit a strong positive bias in their ratings, with a tendency to issue five Strong Buy recommendations for every Strong Sell [6] - This bias suggests that brokerage interests may not align with retail investors, leading to misleading recommendations [7][10] - The Zacks Rank, which is based on earnings estimate revisions, is presented as a more reliable indicator of near-term stock performance compared to ABR [8][11] Zacks Rank vs. ABR - The Zacks Rank is a quantitative model that utilizes earnings estimate revisions, while ABR is based solely on brokerage recommendations [9] - The Zacks Rank is updated more frequently, reflecting timely changes in earnings estimates, unlike the potentially outdated ABR [12] - Roku currently holds a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), supported by a 0.4% increase in the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year to -$0.26 [13][14] Investment Outlook for Roku - Analysts' optimism regarding Roku's earnings prospects is indicated by a consensus in revising EPS estimates higher, suggesting potential for stock appreciation [13] - The combination of the recent consensus estimate change and other earnings-related factors has contributed to Roku's favorable Zacks Rank [14]

Roku (ROKU) has been on a downward spiral lately with significant selling pressure. After declining 20.9% over the past four weeks, the stock looks well positioned for a trend reversal as it is now in oversold territory and there is strong agreement among Wall Street analysts that the company will report better earnings than they predicted earlier.How to Determine if a Stock is OversoldWe use Relative Strength Index (RSI), one of the most commonly used technical indicators, for spotting whether a stock is o ...

Investors seemed to be tuning out Roku (ROKU -8.15%) stock in recent trading days. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, they pushed the specialty consumer electronics company's shares down by just under 18% week to date as of Friday morning. An analyst's deep price target cut played quite a role in this.Tariff and macroeconomic woesOn Wednesday, Jason Bazinet of influential bank Citigroup made quite a significant change to his fair value assessment of Roku.Bazinet now believes the s ...

In a number of ways, Roku (ROKU -5.48%) has the makings of a market-beating growth stock. The company is the leading streaming distribution platform in North America. When viewers in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada tune in to watch Netflix or another streaming service, they are more likely to use a Roku- enabled device than any other. This shows that the company has defended its market share against competition from big tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple. Roku's stock popped after its last earning ...

On Friday, JP Morgan analyst Brent Navon maintained a Buy rating on Roku ROKU with a price target of $100.Roku is a leading video streaming platform company that provides access to a wide array of content via its hardware devices and operating software.Over the last decade, the media and entertainment industry has undergone a significant secular shift toward streaming.Also Read: Roku Has ‘War Time’ CEO? Analyst Says Yes And Sees More New Positives For The CompanyRoku has been at the forefront of this by ena ...

Is Roku's bearish valuation missing the bigger picture? Check out how this undervalued streaming stock could be poised for a comeback.The future is always in flux. No one saw the COVID-19 pandemic coming. Razor-thin election wins can make a huge difference to politics and economics. Consumer tastes can shift much faster (or slower!) than anticipated. And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.So it's not easy to set realistic long-term targets. Surprising events can come along and spoil the best-laid plans. ...

Needham analyst Laura Martin reiterated a Buy rating on the shares of Hooker Furnishings Corp HOFT with a price forecast of $120.00.Roku has three revenue streams: hardware, advertising, and subscription revenue shares, said the analyst.Subscription revenue shares are considered a key growth driver for Roku’s revenue and valuation in the next two years. The analyst estimated that revenue shares from SVOD streaming services accounted for 48% of Roku’s total reported Platform Segment revenues in 2024.Subscrip ...

Roku’s (ROKU) shares have risen 5.8% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s growth of 5.3%. The stock has been riding on ROKU’s leading position as a TV streaming platform provider in the United States, Canada and Mexico based on hours streamed. It benefits from growth in advertising, driven by monetized video ad impressions on the increasing popularity of its platform. Moreover, while already dominant in North America, the company is methodically expanding its footpr ...