FILE PHOTO: A child looks back at a banner for Roblox, displayed to celebrate the company's IPO, on the front facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) -Roblox Corp on Wednesday reported better-than-expected bookings for the fourth quarter as users spent more money on the online gaming platform during the holiday season, powering a 25% surge in its shares.
Mostly popular with children thanks to games like "Jailbreak" and "MeepCity", Roblox has been expanding into other countries and trying to make inroads with older gamers to keep growth from easing off pandemic highs.
It also reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, with the upbeat results contrasting other gaming companies such as Take-Two Interactive and Electronic Arts, which blamed their dour forecasts on a broader slump in the gaming market amid fears of a possible recession.
So far, analysts seem optimistic that Roblox's "metaverse" will sustain its growth in a post-pandemic world as the company invests in attracting users with events like music concerts from renowned artists.
Roblox's average daily active users (DAUs) stood at 65 million in January, compared with 58.8 million at December-end.
Bookings - generated from in-game purchases of Roblox's virtual currency "Robux" - rose 17% to $899.4 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, beating analysts' expectations of $881.4 million, according to Refinitiv data.
Roblox booked a loss of 48 cents per share in the fourth quarter, compared with the 52 cents loss that Wall Street estimated.
Finance chief Michael Guthrie said capital expenditures related to infrastructure were expected to be down "somewhere between 25% to 30% in 2023."
Including Wednesday's jump to $44.8, shares of the company have gained nearly 58% this year.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
