Some companies saw exceptional growth at the height of the pandemic and those focused on online gaming were among the beneficiaries. Similar to other segments which have suffered since the economy’s reopening, the growth rate has slowed down since.
This was evident in the latest quarterly report of Roblox (RBLX). Investors reacted badly as the online gaming platform missed both on the top-and bottom-line in Q4, and sent shares down about 26% in the subsequent session.
EPS of -$0.25 missed the Street’s call of -$0.12, while Q4 bookings increased by 20% year-over-year to $770 million, yet the figure came in $2 million shy of the consensus estimate.
The problem for Roblox is that on top of the disappointing performance, the near-term outlook doesn’t hold much promise either.
For Stifel analyst Drew E. Crum, the key takeaway from the update is the fact January 2022 bookings “experienced a deceleration relative to past months,” and increased by only 2%-3% year-over-year vs. the October/November/December rates of +15%, +23%, and +21%, respectively.