Roku Estimates 49% Increase in Streaming for Q1 2020

Roku has announced that it expects to report a 49% year over year increase in streaming for Q1 2020. The company says it started to see the effects of 'stay at home' orders late in the first quarter.

Roku estimates 39.8 million Active Accounts as of March 31, 2020, a net increase of nearly 3 million since December 31, 2019. Roku also expects first quarter Streaming Hours will be 13.2 billion, a 49% year-over-year increase. In early Q1, Roku completed the rollout of its “Are you still watching” feature which exits video playback after long periods of user inactivity. As previously noted, the roll out of this feature will moderate streaming hour growth; however, beginning in late Q1 Roku started to see the effects of large numbers of people “sheltering at home.” For Roku, this has resulted in an acceleration in new account growth and an increase in viewing.

Due to uncertainties arising from the coronavirus outbreak, Roku is withdrawing its full year 2020 financial outlook. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2020 will likely be slightly higher than previously expected.


At the end of March, Roku announced a new 'Home Together' initiative that offers users thirty days of premium free viewing via extended trials. You can learn more about that here. The company sells a variety of streaming devices including the Roku Premiere for $38.99, Roku Streaming Stick+ for $49, and Roku Ultra for $85.07. Roku devices support the Apple TV app.