Roblox fourth-quarter daily active users miss expectations

Investing.com - Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) has unveiled lower-than-anticipated daily active users in the fourth quarter, in a sign of a possible slowdown in gaming activity on the platform.

Shares in the company fell sharply in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday following the announcement.

The firm, which relies heavily on user generated content on its free-to-play offerings, has been attempting to entice older gamers to its platform in a bid to expand its player base and spur consumer spending.

Daily active users, a key metric used to determine player engagement, rose by 19% versus the year-ago period in the fourth quarter to 85.3 million, although this was below estimates of 88.39 million, according to Bloomberg consensus forecasts.

Fourth-quarter bookings, which tally the sale of virtual currency, grew by 21% year-on-year to $1.36 billion in the quarter ended on December 31, compared with projections of $1.37 billion. Full-year bookings were $4.37 billion.

Meanwhile, quarterly revenue grew by 32% to $988.2 million, above expectations, while the net loss attributable to shareholders was $219.6 million.

The figures come after Roblox was the target of a short-seller report from Hindenburg Research last year which alleged that the group inflated its user and engagement figures and was an unsafe platform for children. Roblox has rejected the claims, saying Hindenburg had a "clear agenda", Reuters has reported.

(Reuters contributed reporting.)