Roku Inc., the company that has been a direct competitor of Apple in terms of streaming devices and being on smart TVs (among others), just filed papers with the Securities and Exchanges Commission on September 1st.
The company is looking to raise $100 million, and will be trading on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol “ROKU”. In the filing, Roku reports that it had about 15.1 million active accounts as of June 30th, 2017.
In addition, the company pointed that the users have “streamed more than 6.7 billion hours on the Roku platform” in the first half of 2017. Roku was also quick to note that 2.9 billion of those hours was programming supported by advertisers.
While the company is looking to go public, there are a few things to take into consideration. The company disclosed that it has operated at losses in the past, and that it expects “to incur operating losses in the future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.” The company seems to be looking towards advertising revenue as their large source of profitability, much like what Snap Inc. has done. Advertising money is a definite importance to Roku.
Roku stated that in the first six months of 2017, revenue from selling streaming hardware made up most of the company’s finances — 59 percent — down two percent from the last half of 2016. On the contrary, advertising revenue grew by 91 percent, which represents 41 percent of the company’s bottom line.
The company has several hardware options, such as a $30 streaming box, and other options like TV’s that come built-in with Roku software. Roku is now mixing in more advertising to the root of its business and path to profitability. It’s with this promise that Roku is looking to raise $100 million and go public.
