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Roku's Ad Growth Outpaces OTT Market: Is Revenue Momentum Sustainable?

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Key Takeaways

  • ROKU's platform revenues rose 18% to $975M in Q2, with ad growth outpacing OTT and digital ad market trends.
  • DSP integrations with Amazon and The Trade Desk are expanding advertiser access to ROKU's inventory.
  • Roku Ads Manager shows early success with 30%+ conversion rates, targeting small performance advertisers.

Roku’s (ROKU - Free Report) advertising momentum remains a key driver of its business, positioning the stock firmly within the digital TV shift. In the second quarter of 2025, platform revenue jumped 18% year over year to $975 million, with advertising growth outpacing Roku’s overall platform segment and exceeding trends in the U.S. OTT and digital ad markets , highlighting market share gains in connected TV.

Roku’s advertising revenue momentum is supported by a demand diversification strategy. Deeper integrations with demand-side platforms such as Amazon DSP and The Trade Desk are widening programmatic access to Roku’s inventory, with the Amazon DSP integration set for completion by the end of the third quarter and expected to expand advertiser reach. Roku Ads Manager is targeting performance advertisers, enabling small businesses to repurpose creative assets and driving early conversion rates above 30%, suggesting broader adoption potential in the quarters ahead. 

The Roku Channel remained the #2 app on the platform in the U.S. and accounted for 5.4% of total U.S. TV streaming time in June 2025, reinforcing its role as an engagement driver. Streaming hours climbed to 35.4 billion in the second quarter, up 5.2 billion from last year, driven by higher engagement on The Roku Channel, personalized content discovery features and live sports programming - factors that are likely to continue fueling viewership growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter platform revenues is pegged at $1.05 billion, while the consensus mark for streaming hours is pegged at 37 billion. Roku also raised its full-year platform revenue outlook to $4.075 billion, implying 16% growth. This outlook reflects the company’s strengthening position in digital advertising as DSP integrations and self-service tools broaden its advertiser base and engagement scale.

ROKU Faces Stiff Competition in Ad Industry

Roku faces mounting competition in connected TV advertising from Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) . Netflix has rapidly scaled its ad-supported tier, reaching tens of millions of users globally, giving Netflix strong leverage with advertisers compared to Roku’s third-party content model. Disney’s ad-supported services across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ provide premium inventory at scale, positioning Disney as a leading rival to Roku’s ad offerings.

Both Netflix and Disney continue to invest in proprietary ad technology platforms, while Roku differentiates itself through its role as a neutral platform operator, a contrast to Netflix and Disney’s content-driven ecosystems.

ROKU’s Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

ROKU shares have risen 26.7% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry’s growth of 27.3% but outperforming the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s return of 11.5%.

ROKU’s YTD Price Performance

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, Roku stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 2.78X compared with the industry’s 4.82X. ROKU has a Value Score of D.

ROKU Valuation

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at 7 cents per share, which is up by 4 cents over the past 30 days, indicating a significant improvement over the year-ago quarter’s loss of 6 cents per share.

Roku, Inc. Price and Consensus

Roku, Inc. Price and Consensus

Roku, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Roku, Inc. Quote

Roku currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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