RBLX - Roblox Reports First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

May, 09 2024 08:00 AM Roblox Corporation Class A

Strong net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities up 37% year-over-year and record free cash flow ¹ up 133% year-over-year

Roblox Corporation (NYSE: RBLX), a global platform bringing millions of people together through shared experiences, released its first quarter 2024 financial and operational results and issued its second quarter and updated full year 2024 guidance today. Separately, Roblox posted a letter to shareholders and supplemental materials on the Roblox investor relations website at ir.roblox.com.

First Quarter 2024 Financial, Operational, and Liquidity Highlights

Revenue was $801.3 million, up 22% year-over-year.
Bookings ¹ were $923.8 million, up 19% year-over-year.
Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $270.6 million, while consolidated net loss was $271.9 million.
Adjusted EBITDA ¹ was $(6.9) million, which excludes adjustments for increases in deferred revenue and deferred cost of revenue of $127.6 million and $(32.9) million, respectively.
Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities was $238.9 million, up 37% year-over-year, while free cash flow ¹ was $191.1 million, up 133% year-over-year.
Average Daily Active Users (“DAUs”) were 77.7 million, up 17% year-over-year.
Average monthly unique payers were 15.6 million, up 13% year-over-year, and average bookings per monthly unique payer was $19.68, up 6% year-over-year.
Hours engaged (“Hours”) were 16.7 billion, up 15% year-over-year.
Average bookings per DAU was $11.89, up 2% year-over-year.
Net liquidity ² was $2.5 billion.

“Our teams have been hard at work identifying opportunities to drive DAUs, Hours, and bookings growth rates back to 20% year-over-year. We began experimenting with changes in our AI-driven discovery algorithm and the positioning of various content types on the Homepage. We reintroduced platform-wide events like The Hunt: First Edition . And, we continued to improve the quality and performance of our app and experiences. Based on results since the middle of April, we believe that these steps are yielding positive results,” said David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox.

“We are operating more efficiently. Over the past three quarters we have reduced certain infrastructure and trust and safety expenditures, and we have reduced the growth rate of personnel costs (excluding stock-based compensation expense) by holding headcount flat. Capital expenditures are down nearly 50% in Q1 2024 compared to last year. As a result, this past quarter we produced record amounts of operating and free cash flow,” said Michael Guthrie, chief financial officer of Roblox.

“Finally, we will no longer refer to Covenant Adjusted EBITDA in our shareholder letters and earnings press releases though we will calculate it in the liquidity sections of our Forms 10-Q and 10-K. We will continue to report and guide to Adjusted EBITDA which excludes adjustments for the change in deferred revenue and deferred cost of revenue. We will also report and guide to the changes in deferred revenue and deferred cost of revenue,” Guthrie continued.

Bookings, Adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful in evaluating our performance and are presented for supplemental information purposes only and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. For further information, please refer to definitions and reconciliations provided below and our annual and quarterly SEC filings.

Net liquidity represents cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, and long-term investments, less long-term debt, net.

Forward Looking Guidance ³

Roblox provides its second quarter and updated full year 2024 GAAP and non-GAAP guidance:

Second Quarter 2024 Guidance

Revenue between $855 million and $880 million.
Bookings between $870 million and $900 million.
Consolidated net loss between $(267) million and $(265) million.
Adjusted EBITDA between $36 million and $38 million, which excludes adjustments for:
- Increase in deferred revenue between $18 million and $23 million.
- Increase in deferred cost of revenue between $(7) million and $(9) million.
- The total of these changes in deferrals between $11 million and $14 million.
Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities between $61 million and $68 million.
Capital expenditures and purchases of intangible assets of approximately $(45) million.
Free cash flow between $16 million and $23 million.

Updated Full Year 2024 Guidance

Revenue between $3,450 million and $3,525 million.
Bookings between $4,000 million and $4,100 million.
Consolidated net loss between $(1,096) million and $(1,044) million.
Adjusted EBITDA between $95 million and $147 million, which excludes adjustments for:
- Increase in deferred revenue between $568 million and $593 million.
- Increase in deferred cost of revenue between $(133) million and $(140) million.
- The total of these changes in deferrals between $435 million and $453 million.
Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities between $530 million and $600 million.
Capital expenditures and purchases of intangible assets of approximately $(180) million.
Free cash flow between $350 million and $420 million.

Earnings Q&A Session

Roblox will host a live Q&A session to answer questions regarding its first quarter 2024 results on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time/8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The webcast will be open to the public at ir.roblox.com or by clicking here .

Beginning April 1, 2024, the estimated average lifetime of a payer changed from 28 months to 27 months, which is reflected in our second quarter and updated full year 2024 GAAP and non-GAAP guidance. Based on the carrying amount of deferred revenue and deferred cost of revenue as of March 31, 2024, the April 1, 2024 change in estimated average lifetime of a payer will result in an increase in revenue and cost of revenue of $58.9 million and $12.4 million, respectively, during the second quarter of 2024 and an increase in revenue and cost of revenue of $98.0 million and $20.4 million, respectively, during the full year 2024. Refer to “Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Revenue Recognition” as described in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for further background on the Company’s process to estimate the average lifetime of a payer.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our vision to connect one billion global DAUs, our efforts to improve the Roblox Platform, our immersive and video advertising efforts, including our ads manager and independent measurement partnerships, our efforts regarding content curation, live operations and platform-wide events, our efforts regarding real-world shopping, the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on our platform,, our economy and product efforts related to creator earnings and platform monetization, our sponsored experiences, branding and new partnerships and our roadmap with respect to each, our business, product, strategy and user growth, our investment strategy, including our opportunities for and expectations of improvements in financial and operating metrics, including operating leverage, margin, free cash flow, operating expenses and capital expenditures, our expectation of successfully executing such strategies and plans, disclosures regarding the seasonality of our business, disclosures and future growth rates, benefits from agreements with third-party cloud providers, disclosures about our infrastructure efficiency initiatives, changes to our estimated average lifetime of a paying user and the resulting effect on revenue, cost of revenue, deferred revenue and deferred cost of revenue, our expectations of future net losses and net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities, statements by our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and our outlook and guidance for second quarter and full year 2024, and future periods. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and were based on current plans, expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “expect,” “vision,” “envision,” “evolving,” “drive,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “maintain,” “should,” “believe,” “continue,” “plan,” “goal,” “opportunity,” “estimate,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “could,” and “would,” and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings and reports we make with the SEC from time to time. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: our ability to successfully execute our business and growth strategy; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our liquidity needs, including the repayment of our senior notes; the demand for our platform in general; our ability to retain and increase our number of users, developers, and creators; the impact of inflation and global economic conditions on our operations; the impact of changing legal and regulatory requirements on our business, including the use of verified parental consent; our ability to develop enhancements to our platform, and bring them to market in a timely manner; our ability to develop and protect our brand and build new partnerships; any misuse of user data or other undesirable activity by third parties on our platform; our ability to maintain the security and availability of our platform; our ability to detect and minimize unauthorized use of our platform; and the impact of AI on our platform, users, creators, and developers. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations is included in the reports we have filed or will file with the SEC, including our annual reports on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, we undertake no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

ROBLOX CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands, except par values) (unaudited)



As of

March 31, 2024

December 31, 2023
Assets



Current assets:



Cash and cash equivalents
$
866,414


$
678,466

Short-term investments

1,543,819



1,514,808

Accounts receivable—net of allowances

331,677



505,769

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

88,537



74,549

Deferred cost of revenue, current portion

525,570



501,821

Total current assets

3,356,017



3,275,413

Long-term investments

1,059,246



1,043,399

Property and equipment—net

691,292



695,360

Operating lease right-of-use assets

715,501



665,107

Deferred cost of revenue, long-term

292,509



283,326

Intangible assets, net

47,938



53,060

Goodwill

141,956



142,129

Other assets

10,212



10,284

Total assets
$
6,314,671


$
6,168,078

Liabilities and Stockholders’ equity



Current liabilities:



Accounts payable
$
49,078


$
60,087

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

273,649



271,121

Developer exchange liability

292,676



314,866

Deferred revenue—current portion

2,513,339



2,406,292

Total current liabilities

3,128,742



3,052,366

Deferred revenue—net of current portion

1,393,807



1,373,250

Operating lease liabilities

693,815



646,506

Long-term debt, net

1,005,338



1,005,000

Other long-term liabilities

30,282



22,330

Total liabilities

6,251,984



6,099,452

Stockholders’ equity



Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 authorized as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 639,734 and 631,221 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively; Class A common stock—4,935,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 591,056 and 581,135 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively; Class B common stock—65,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 48,678 and 50,086 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively

61



61

Additional paid-in capital

3,407,986



3,134,946

Accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)

(5,589
)


1,536

Accumulated deficit

(3,330,857
)


(3,060,253
)
Total Roblox Corporation Stockholders’ equity

71,601



76,290

Noncontrolling interests

(8,914
)


(7,664
)
Total Stockholders’ equity

62,687



68,626

Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ equity
$
6,314,671


$
6,168,078

ROBLOX CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (in thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited)



Three Months Ended

March 31,


2024



2023

Revenue
$
801,300


$
655,344

Cost and expenses:



Cost of revenue ⁽¹⁾

178,866



151,841

Developer exchange fees

202,405



182,440

Infrastructure and trust & safety

226,934



211,044

Research and development

362,065



275,537

General and administrative

97,824



97,574

Sales and marketing

35,534



26,755

Total cost and expenses

1,103,628



945,191

Loss from operations

(302,328
)


(289,847
)
Interest income

42,170



31,082

Interest expense

(10,363
)


(10,012
)
Other income/(expense), net

(346
)


(440
)
Loss before income taxes

(270,867
)


(269,217
)
Provision for/(benefit from) income taxes

1,053



731

Consolidated net loss

(271,920
)


(269,948
)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests

(1,316
)


(1,635
)
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
$
(270,604
)

$
(268,313
)
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted
$
(0.43
)

$
(0.44
)
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders—basic and diluted

635,020



606,637

(1)

Depreciation of servers and infrastructure equipment included in infrastructure and trust & safety.

ROBLOX CORPORATION CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in thousands) (unaudited)



Three Months Ended March 31,


2024



2023

Cash flows from operating activities:



Consolidated net loss
$
(271,920
)

$
(269,948
)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss including noncontrolling interests to net cash and cash equivalents provided by operations:



Depreciation and amortization expense

53,741



47,412

Stock-based compensation expense

240,502



184,904

Operating lease non-cash expense

27,722



21,244

(Accretion)/amortization on marketable securities, net

(19,998
)


(12,122
)
Amortization of debt issuance costs

338



324

Impairment expense, (gain)/loss on investment and other asset sales, and other, net

63



8,236

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:



Accounts receivable

174,068



113,193

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

(15,310
)


(8,359
)
Deferred cost of revenue

(33,368
)


(20,137
)
Other assets

51



(2,158
)
Accounts payable

(3,576
)


18,307

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

(9,221
)


(17,004
)
Developer exchange liability

(22,190
)


(3,865
)
Deferred revenue

129,184



123,783

Operating lease liabilities

(19,103
)


(11,999
)
Other long-term liabilities

7,963



1,970

Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities

238,946



173,781

Cash flows from investing activities:



Acquisition of property and equipment

(46,680
)


(91,359
)
Purchases of intangible assets

(1,200
)


(500
)
Purchases of investments

(1,032,756
)


(2,340,200
)
Maturities of investments

873,820



—

Sales of investments

128,232



84,279

Net cash and cash equivalents used in investing activities

(78,584
)


(2,347,780
)
Cash flows from financing activities:



Proceeds from issuance of common stock

32,670



25,472

Payments related to business combination, after acquisition date

(4,450
)


(750
)
Net cash and cash equivalents provided by financing activities

28,220



24,722

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

(634
)


(68
)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

187,948



(2,149,345
)
Cash and cash equivalents



Beginning of period

678,466



2,977,474

End of period
$
866,414


$
828,129

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release and the accompanying tables contain the non-GAAP financial measure bookings, Adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow.

We use this non-GAAP financial information to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that this non-GAAP financial information may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance.

Bookings is defined as revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period and other non-cash adjustments. Substantially all of our bookings are generated from sales of virtual currency, which can ultimately be converted to virtual items on the Roblox Platform. Sales of virtual currency reflected as bookings include one-time purchases and monthly subscriptions purchased via payment processors or through prepaid cards. Bookings also include an insignificant amount from advertising and licensing arrangements. We believe bookings provide a timelier indication of trends in our operating results that are not necessarily reflected in our revenue as a result of the fact that we recognize the majority of revenue over the estimated average lifetime of a paying user. The change in deferred revenue constitutes the vast majority of the reconciling difference from revenue to bookings. By removing these non-cash adjustments, we are able to measure and monitor our business performance based on the timing of actual transactions with our users and the cash that is generated from these transactions. Adjusted EBITDA represents our GAAP consolidated net loss, excluding interest income, interest expense, other income/(expense), provision for/(benefit from) income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense, and certain other nonrecurring adjustments. We believe that, when considered together with reported GAAP amounts, Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors and management in understanding our ongoing operations and ongoing operating trends. Our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from the definition used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. Free cash flow represents the net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities less purchases of property, equipment, and intangible assets acquired through asset acquisitions. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of our unit economics and liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated from our core operations that, after the purchases of property, equipment, and intangible assets acquired through asset acquisitions, can be used for strategic initiatives.

Non-GAAP financial measures have limitations in their usefulness to investors because they have no standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial information as a tool for comparison. As a result, our non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP.

Reconciliation tables of the most comparable GAAP financial measure to the non-GAAP financial measure used in this press release are included below. We encourage investors and others to review our business, results of operations, and financial information in their entirety, not to rely on any single financial measure, and to view these non-GAAP measures in conjunction with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliations

The following table presents a reconciliation of revenue, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to bookings, for each of the periods presented (in thousands, unaudited):


Three Months Ended March 31,


2024



2023

Reconciliation of revenue to bookings:



Revenue
$
801,300


$
655,344

Add (deduct):



Change in deferred revenue

127,604



123,783

Other

(5,147
)


(5,308
)
Bookings
$
923,757


$
773,819

The following table presents a reconciliation of consolidated net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to Adjusted EBITDA, for each of the periods presented (in thousands, unaudited):


Three Months Ended March 31,


2024



2023





Reconciliation of consolidated net loss to Adjusted EBITDA:



Consolidated net loss
$
(271,920
)

$
(269,948
)
Add (deduct):



Interest income

(42,170
)


(31,082
)
Interest expense

10,363



10,012

Other (income)/expense, net

346



440

Provision for/(benefit from) income taxes

1,053



731

Depreciation and amortization expense

53,741



47,412

Stock-based compensation expense

240,502



184,904

RTO severance charge ^(A)

1,182



—

Other non-cash charges ^(B)

—



6,988

Adjusted EBITDA
$
(6,903
)

$
(50,543
)

(A)

Relates to cash severance costs associated with the Company’s return-to-office (“RTO”) plan announced in October 2023, which requires a subset of the Company’s remote employees to begin working from the San Mateo headquarters for three days a week, beginning in the summer of 2024.

(B)

Includes impairment expenses related to certain operating lease right-of-use assets and related property and equipment.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, to free cash flow, for each of the periods presented (in thousands, unaudited):


Three Months Ended March 31,


2024



2023





Reconciliation of net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities to free cash flow:



Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities
$
238,946


$
173,781

Deduct:



Acquisition of property and equipment

(46,680
)


(91,359
)
Purchases of intangible assets

(1,200
)


(500
)
Free cash flow
$
191,066


$
81,922

Forward Looking Guidance ⁴ : GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliations


Guidance

Updated Guidance

Three Months Ended June 30, 2024

Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024

Low

High

Low

High
Reconciliation of revenue to bookings:







Revenue
$
855,000


$
880,000


$
3,450,000


$
3,525,000

Add (deduct):







Change in deferred revenue

18,000



23,000



568,000



593,000

Other

(3,000
)


(3,000
)


(18,000
)


(18,000
)
Bookings
$
870,000


$
900,000


$
4,000,000


$
4,100,000


Guidance

Updated Guidance

Three Months Ended June 30, 2024

Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024

Low

High

Low

High
Reconciliation of consolidated net loss to Adjusted EBITDA:







Consolidated net loss
$
(267,000
)

$
(265,000
)

$
(1,096,000
)

$
(1,044,000
)
Add (deduct):







Interest income

(38,000
)


(38,000
)


(160,000
)


(160,000
)
Interest expense

11,000



11,000



42,000



42,000

Provision for/(benefit from) income taxes

2,000



2,000



5,000



5,000

Depreciation and amortization expense

58,000



58,000



224,000



224,000

Stock-based compensation expense

270,000



270,000



1,080,000



1,080,000

Adjusted EBITDA
$
36,000


$
38,000


$
95,000


$
147,000


Guidance

Three Months Ended June 30, 2024

Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2024

Low

High

Low

High








Reconciliation of net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities to free cash flow:







Net cash and cash equivalents provided by operating activities
$
61,000


$
68,000


$
530,000


$
600,000

Deduct:







Acquisition of property and equipment

(45,000
)


(45,000
)


(178,800
)


(178,800
)
Purchase of intangible assets

—



—



(1,200
)


(1,200
)
Free cash flow
$
16,000


$
23,000


$
350,000


$
420,000

About Roblox

Roblox is an immersive platform for connection and communication. Every day, millions of people come to Roblox to create, play, work, learn, and connect with each other in experiences built by our global community of creators. Our vision is to reimagine the way people come together– in a world that is safe, civil, and optimistic. To achieve this vision, we are building an innovative company that, together with the Roblox community, has the ability to strengthen our social fabric and support economic growth for people around the world. For more about Roblox, please visit corp.roblox.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509181705/en/

Stefanie Notaney
Roblox Corporate Communications
press@roblox.com

Company Name:	Roblox Corporation Class A
Stock Symbol:	RBLX
Market:	NYSE
Website:	corp.roblox.com

Twitter