Streaming TV platform Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026, with sales up 22.4% year on year to $1.25 billion. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $1.3 billion at the midpoint, 1.2% above analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP profit of $0.57 per share was 72.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Roku (ROKU) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $1.25 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.20 billion (22.4% year-on-year growth, 3.7% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.57 vs analyst estimates of $0.33 (72.8% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $148.4 million vs analyst estimates of $131.2 million (11.9% margin, 13.1% beat)
- The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $5.5 billion at the midpoint
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $675 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $645.8 million
- Operating Margin: 4.1%, up from -5.7% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 43.1%, up from 7.6% in the previous quarter
- Total Hours Streamed: 38.7 billion, up 2.9 billion year on year
- Market Capitalization: $16.6 billion
Company Overview
With a name meaning six in Japanese because it was the founder's sixth company that he started, Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) makes hardware players that offer access to various online streaming TV services.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last three years, Roku grew its sales at a solid 16.6% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average consumer internet company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.
This quarter, Roku reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 22.4%, and its $1.25 billion of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 3.7%. Company management is currently guiding for a 17% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 14.1% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last three years. Despite the slowdown, this projection is commendable and indicates the market is baking in success for its products and services.
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Total Hours Streamed
Request Growth
As a subscription-based app, Roku generates revenue growth by expanding both its subscriber base and the amount each subscriber spends over time.
Over the last two years, Roku’s total hours streamed, a key performance metric for the company, increased by 15.5% annually to 38.7 billion in the latest quarter. This growth rate is among the fastest of any consumer internet business and indicates its offerings have significant traction. 
In Q1, Roku added 2.9 billion total hours streamed, leading to 8.1% year-on-year growth. The quarterly print was lower than its two-year result, suggesting its new initiatives aren’t accelerating request growth just yet.
Revenue Per Request
Average revenue per request (ARPR) is a critical metric to track because it measures how much the average request spends. ARPR is also a key indicator of how valuable its requests are (and can be over time).
Roku’s ARPR growth has been exceptional over the last two years, averaging 45,351%. Its ability to increase monetization while growing its total hours streamed at an impressive rate reflects the strength of its platform, as its requests are spending significantly more than last year. 
This quarter, Roku’s ARPR clocked in at $0.03. It grew by 13.2% year on year, faster than its total hours streamed.
Key Takeaways from Roku’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by Roku’s optimistic EBITDA guidance for next quarter, which blew past analysts’ expectations. We were also excited its EBITDA outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. On the other hand, its full-year revenue guidance was in line. Zooming out, we think this was a good print with some key areas of upside. The stock traded up 7.3% to $125.32 immediately following the results.
Indeed, Roku had a rock-solid quarterly earnings result, but is this stock a good investment here? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
