- Roblox is growing faster than Wall Street expected, especially in bookings, users, and engagement.
- Free cash flow surged, signaling stronger business efficiency despite ongoing losses.
- Investors are warming back up to Roblox’s long-term social entertainment vision.
Contrary to Wall Street expectations, Roblox stock surged 16% in premarket trading on Friday after the gaming platform delivered a blowout fourth-quarter earnings report that beat Wall Street expectations across nearly every major metric, from bookings and user growth to engagement and cash flow.
Shares climbed to around $70.50 after closing Thursday at $60.54, reversing recent losses and signaling renewed investor confidence in Roblox’s long-term growth story.
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Bookings and User Growth Power Roblox’s Rally
For the fourth quarter ended December 2025, Roblox reported bookings of $2.2 billion, up 63% year over year and well ahead of analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Bookings, which track purchases of Robux, the platform’s in-game currency, are considered a more meaningful performance indicator than revenue because Roblox recognizes most sales over an average two-year user lifespan.
User engagement also shattered expectations. Daily active users jumped 69% to 144 million, beating forecasts of 138 million, while hours engaged surged 88% to 35.2 billion, far above Wall Street’s estimate of 32.4 billion hours. Growth was particularly strong in North America, where daily users reached 24 million, and engagement topped 6.3 billion hours.
Together, those metrics reinforced Roblox’s position as one of the fastest-growing consumer platforms in gaming and increasingly, in social entertainment more broadly.
Oluwaseun Bamisile
Losses Persist, but Cash Flow Impresses
Despite the strong top-line performance, Roblox reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $318 million on revenue of $1.42 billion, which rose 43% year over year. Analysts had projected a loss of $323 million.
More importantly for investors, Roblox generated $307 million in free cash flow for the quarter, more than double the $136 million analysts were expecting, a sign that the company’s business model is scaling efficiently even as it continues to invest heavily in infrastructure and creator tools.
For the full-year 2025, Roblox posted a net loss of $1.07 billion on revenue of $4.9 billion, up 36%. However, annual bookings climbed 55% to $6.8 billion, beating expectations of $6.6 billion and reinforcing confidence in the platform’s long-term monetization engine.
CEO Calls 2025 a “Banner Year”
Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki described 2025 as a breakout year for the company, crediting creators as the primary growth driver.
“Roblox’s success is rooted in the boundless creativity of our creator community,” Baszucki said, adding that top creators benefited directly from the platform’s momentum, with the company’s top 1,000 creators earning an average of $1.3 million each.
He also reiterated Roblox’s ambitious long-term vision: connecting one billion users and capturing 10% of the global gaming market.
Emmanuel Umahi
Strong 2026 Outlook Lifts Sentiment
Roblox’s forward guidance further boosted investor confidence. For the first quarter of 2026, the company expects bookings between $1.69 billion and $1.74 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 40% to 44%, alongside projected free cash flow between $560 million and $584 million, well above analyst estimates.
For the full year 2026, Roblox is forecasting bookings between $8.28 billion and $8.55 billion and free cash flow between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, both higher than Wall Street’s expectations.
While Roblox stock is still down roughly 25% year-to-date and nearly 10% over the past 12 months, Friday’s rally suggests investors may be rethinking the company’s trajectory, especially as engagement metrics and monetization trends continue to outperform.
The Takeaway
Roblox’s earnings weren’t just “good”; they actually rewrote expectations. Massive gains in bookings, daily users, engagement hours, and free cash flow point to a platform that’s scaling faster than Wall Street anticipated, even while operating at a net loss. For investors, the 16% stock jump reflects renewed confidence that Roblox is evolving beyond a kids-first gaming platform into a long-term social entertainment ecosystem with serious monetization potential.
Damilare Odedina
