Roblox reports 138 million daily users and forecasts fourth-quarter bookings below expectations
Key Facts
Roblox reported a loss of $0.32 per share in the third quarter of 2026, narrower than the $0.43 loss analysts had expected, while bookings beat market estimates and daily active users fell short. An Investing.com report published on October 29 said the stock fell about 9% in after-hours trading following the results. The shares closed at $53.28 on October 28, according to EL7 data, which did not include the session’s high or low. The results were mixed: some financial metrics exceeded estimates, while audience growth and the company’s bookings guidance for the next quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO David Baszucki said financial results exceeded the company’s guidance for revenue, bookings and cash flow.
Average daily active users reached 138 million in the third quarter, compared with analysts’ estimate of 145.77 million. The figure fell 9% year over year, according to the shareholder letter, which attributed the decline to comparison with the high growth rates the company recorded in 2025. Meanwhile, hours of engagement on the platform reached 34 billion, above analysts’ estimate of 32.99 billion. But engagement hours themselves fell 15% from the third quarter of 2025, which the company also attributed to a high comparison base. Over two years, Roblox said daily active users increased 55% and engagement hours rose 63%, providing a longer-term context for the annual declines in both usage measures.
Bookings totaled $1.70 billion in the third quarter, down 12% from the same period a year earlier, but above analysts’ estimate of $1.63 billion. The shareholder letter said the annual decline reflected comparison with the exceptional growth the company saw in 2025. Over two years, bookings increased by more than 50%, according to the same letter. Free cash flow was $364 million during the quarter, while Baszucki said financial results came in above the company’s guidance for revenue, bookings and cash flow. He added that artificial intelligence “is fundamentally reshaping the gaming industry” and is accelerating content creation. Together, the metrics show bookings and engagement outperforming estimates alongside annual declines in bookings and audience.
The company forecast fourth-quarter bookings of between $1.89 billion and $2.00 billion, below analysts’ consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. It also forecast revenue of between $1.47 billion and $1.58 billion, compared with analysts’ estimate of $1.56 billion; the revenue range spans the estimate, while the upper end of the bookings range is below it. In its shareholder letter, Roblox forecast bookings would decline between 10% and 15% year over year in the fourth quarter, and said the guidance assumes a seasonal decline in daily active users compared with the third quarter, similar to what the company has observed in recent years. It also noted that most bookings convert to revenue over the estimated average lifetime of a paying user, which was 27 months in the third quarter. The company therefore said revenue could grow in the fourth quarter despite its forecast for lower bookings, with revenue expected to increase between 4% and 12% year over year, according to the shareholder letter.