Stock Story -
What Happened: Shares of streaming TV platform Roku (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:ROKU) fell 8.2% in the pre-market session after markets continued to decline, although they have recovered a bit since the open (Nasdaq down 3.6%, S&P 500 down 3%). Yields also retreated as worries about a US recession grew. The declines followed volatility on Friday, August 2, when the July Non-Farm Payrolls data revealed weaker job growth as the unemployment rate rose.
Markets might also be concerned that the Fed is behind in cutting rates, with the Federal Open Market Committee leaving rates steady at 5.25%-5.50% during the July 2024 meeting. For example, respected economist and University of Pennsylvania professor Jeremy Siegel took an aggressive stance, calling on the Fed to make an emergency 75 basis-point cut in the federal funds rate after Friday’s disappointing jobs report.
As a reminder, the driver of a stock's value is the sum of its future cash flows discounted back to today. With lower interest rates, investors can apply higher valuations to their stocks. However, the economy matters as well. Recessions can mean broad-based declines in demand for everything from consumer goods to enterprise software.
We at StockStory remain cautious, as following the crowd can lead to adverse outcomes. During times like this, it's best to own high-quality, cash-flowing companies that can weather the ups and downs of the market.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Roku? Find out by reading the original article on StockStory, it's free.
What is the market telling us: Roku's shares are very volatile and over the last year have had 18 moves greater than 5%. In context of that, today's move is indicating the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago, when the stock dropped 22.3% on the news that the company reported fourth-quarter results and provided slightly underwhelming outlook for the coming quarters.
The company lacked specificity that the market craves when discussing its full-year 2024 EBITDA forecast (it stated that EBITDA would be "positive" rather than sharing a number - Wall Street was expecting $100 million of EBITDA for 2024). Management cited challenging macroeconomic conditions and an uneven ad market recovery, and they anticipate seasonal revenue declines in line with Q1 2023, alongside tough year-over-year growth rate comparisons in streaming services distribution and a challenging media and entertainment landscape.
Additionally, the company has averaged 8% upside to Wall Street's revenue estimates since Q3 2022, so Roku's more modest beat this quarter may be causing investors to level set with regards to expectations.
On a more positive note, Roku beat analysts' revenue expectations as it grew its user base and outperformed in its Platform and Devices segments. Its revenue guidance for next quarter also topped analysts' expectations. Overall, this quarter's results seemed mixed, but the market was likely expecting more.
Roku is down 43.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $50.14 per share it is trading 53.1% below its 52-week high of $106.87 from November 2023. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Roku's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $488.93.
