Streaming company Roku $ROKU shares began its first day trading Thursday after it’s successful initial public offering raised $220 million giving it a market valuation of $1.3 billion. Roku shares were priced at $14 each, the high end of an expected range of $12 to $14.
Streaming company Roku $ROKU shares began its first day trading Thursday after it’s successful initial public offering raised $220 million giving it a market valuation of $1.3 billion. Roku shares were priced at $14 each, the high end of an expected range of $12 to $14.
Roku shares were trading at $22.55 up 61% by lunch after opening at $15.78.
Roku shares exploded north despite many negative on the IPO segment after $SNAP and $APRN, perhaps the rise was fed by shorts at open. There have been rumors floating around about Apple $AAPL and $AMZN looking to acquire $ROKU also.
Reaction: Roku Inc NASDAQ: $ROKU Debut $22.55 +8.55 (+61.07%)
“We are in a golden age of TV. Our mission is to be the TV streaming platform that connects the entire TV ecosystem.” Roku prospectus
About RokuI (From IPO prospectus)
- Founded 15 years ago
- Sells a line of set-top boxes that enable its streaming TV services.
- Has 15.1 million monthly active users as of June 30, up 43% from the year-ago period.
- Claims it’s equivalent to being the fourth-largest distributor of multichannel video programming, by subscribers.
- Roku home screen lets users search and access more than 500,000 movies and TV episodes
- Access live sports, music, news and more
- For H12017 ended June 30 Roku reported revenue of $199.7 million, up 23% from the year-ago period, with a loss of $21.2 million, vs. a loss of $32.6 million a year ago.
- Roku revenue includes Roku TV streaming devices, advertising and subscription revenue
Competitors
- Apple $AAPL Apple TV device
- Amazon $AMZN Fire TV Stick
- Alphabet Google unit $GOOGL Google Chromecast device.
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