Roku breaks its profit record again as Fox acquisition looms
Roku breaks its profit record again as Fox acquisition looms
Roku reported $1.5 billion in revenue and a record $183 million in profit, as strong advertising and subscription growth helped the streaming giant deliver in Q3.
Roku’s days as an independent company appear to be numbered. An acquisition by Fox is looming in the coming months, and while the deal is still subject to regulatory approval, the companies expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2027. Until then, however, Roku will continue reporting its earnings on its own, as it did after the market closed on Monday, Nov. 2, revealing yet another impressive quarter for the streaming giant.
Key Details:
- Record Profits: Roku generated $183 million in net income during the third quarter, surpassing its previous record of $164 million set in Q2.
- Revenue Growth: Total revenue climbed 24% year-over-year to $1.5 billion, including $727 million in advertising revenue and $581 million from subscriptions.
- Streaming Engagement: Viewers streamed 39.9 billion hours on Roku during the quarter, a 9% increase from 2025, while The Roku Channel remained the platform’s second-most popular app.
In the third quarter of 2026, Roku generated a total revenue of $1.5 billion, up 24% year-over-year. That included a net income of $183 million, a staggering increase from the $24.8 million it earned during the same quarter last year. In the second quarter, Roku had its highest profit ever, bringing in $164 million, but the company has now surpassed that record just three months later. Roku also reported $649 million in gross profit, an increase of 24%, while its trailing 12-month free cash flow climbed to nearly $796 million.
Streaming hours for Roku reached 39.9 billion in the quarter, a 9% increase year-over-year and up from 37.9 billion in Q2. Roku is now available in more than 100 million households around the globe, giving Fox a powerful platform with tremendous reach when it closes its acquisition of the company. The Roku Channel also maintained its position as the second-most-used app on Roku devices, both in the United States and globally, demonstrating the continued popularity of the company’s free, ad-supported streaming service.
Subscription revenue was up 23% to $581 million in the third quarter, while advertising sales climbed by the same percentage to $727 million. The latter marked Roku’s ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit advertising growth, with the company reporting that its video advertising business once again outpaced the broader U.S. streaming and digital advertising markets. Roku also benefited from increased political advertising ahead of the November midterm elections, with political ad spending on the platform exceeding the comparable period during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The company’s device business also saw substantial growth, with revenue increasing 33% to $194 million. Roku-branded televisions approached 8% of total U.S. TV unit sales during the quarter, an impressive achievement considering that the company only entered the TV manufacturing business approximately three years ago. However, rising memory costs continued to weigh on the division, which recorded a gross loss of $48.6 million despite the increased sales.
Roku’s continued growth comes as the company makes a concerted effort to improve its streaming experience and make it easier for viewers to discover content across their various subscriptions. During the quarter, Roku completed the U.S. rollout of its redesigned home screen, with personalized recommendations and AI-powered discovery tools intended to help users find something to watch. The company has already seen early signs that these improvements are helping reduce subscription cancellations, and it is now expanding the redesign internationally.
Sports have also become an increasingly important part of Roku’s subscription business. During this summer’s FIFA World Cup, the company’s sports discovery features helped drive more than 1 million subscription sign-ups across services including Peacock, Paramount+, Fox One, and ViX. Roku has since expanded its Sports Experience into Canada and introduced additional features for football fans, while Fox One subscribers can now access cloud DVR functionality through Roku Premium Subscriptions.
It was another strong quarter for Roku, and the company is positioning itself to benefit from increased advertising spending and streaming engagement during the final months of the year. However, with its acquisition by Fox still pending, Roku did not host its usual earnings call or issue a separate financial outlook, although the company said it remains on track to meet the second-half 2026 forecast included in its merger proxy statement.
Viewers will also want to keep an eye on The Roku Channel during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when the company traditionally offers a range of discounts on supplementary streaming subscriptions. The Roku Channel added more than 30 new bundles in September, with more than 35 combinations now available at savings of up to 30% compared to subscribing to each service individually. These bundles could potentially see even deeper discounts during the holiday shopping season, although Roku has not yet announced any specific Black Friday promotions.
Roku Channel
The Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported streaming service that offers a broad mix of movies, TV shows, live linear channels, and original programming. Available to all viewers — not just Roku device owners — the service features licensed content from major studios alongside Roku Originals, which include exclusive series, movies, and specials previously produced for Quibi, as well as new original projects developed specifically for the platform.