Roblox tanked 15% on Q4 results: ‘user metrics look good’

Roblox Corp (NYSE: RBLX) shares tanked 15% after-hours on Q4 results that fell shy of Wall Street estimates. The social-gaming company saw a nearly 1.5x annualised increase in its quarterly loss.

Key takeaways from the Q4 results

Roblox said it lost $143.3 million in the fourth quarter (25 cents per share). This compared to last year’s $58.7 million in net loss (30 cents per share), as per the earnings press release.

It generated $568.8 million in revenue – a YoY growth of 83% as bookings jumped from $642.3 million to $770.1 million. According to FactSet, experts had forecast a much narrower 12 cents of per-share loss on a slightly higher $772 million in bookings.

Roblox had 49.5 million DAUs on average at the end of Q4 or 33% higher than last year. In January, the California-based company added, DAUs jumped further to 54.7 million, representing a 32% growth versus the comparable period of last year.

Analyst reacts to Roblox’s earnings report

Commenting on the earnings report, LightShed Partners’ Brandon Ross said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell”:

Free cash flow printed at $558 million for the full year – an increase from 2020’s $411.2 million. Reiterating his “buy” rating with a price target of $85 a share that represents a 35% upside from here, Ross added: