Roblox shares down nearly 20% in Friday trading; it forecasts lower holiday bookings

Roblox shares were trading at $42.12 at 11:18 a.m. New York time (16:18 CET) on Friday 30 October 2026, down $10.34, or 19.7%, from Thursday's close, according to Google Finance; the session was still open and the price still moving. In its third-quarter shareholder letter, published on 29 October, the games platform reported 138 million daily active users (DAUs), 9% fewer than a year earlier, and forecast fourth-quarter bookings of $1,890m-$2,000m, a decline of 10% to 15% year on year.

Revenue rose 16% to $1,572m in the three months to 30 September, from $1,360m a year earlier. Bookings, a non-GAAP measure of sales activity before certain non-cash adjustments, fell 12% to $1,697m from $1,922m, though they came in above the top of the company's guidance range. Roblox attributed the year-on-year drop to comparison with what it called extraordinary growth in 2025, and said bookings were up more than 50% over two years. The GAAP net loss per share narrowed to $0.32 from $0.37, while adjusted EBITDA, also non-GAAP, rose to $138m from $46m.

Hours engaged on the platform dropped 15% year on year to nearly 34bn, and average monthly unique payers fell 16% to 30m, although average bookings per payer rose 5%. The company said it was lapping strong growth from 2025, and that DAUs and hours were up 55% and 63% respectively over two years. Against the second quarter, DAUs grew 12%. Roblox said monetisation among younger US users remained weak.

For the fourth quarter, Roblox forecasts revenue of $1,470m-$1,580m, up 4% to 12% year on year, adjusted EBITDA of between minus $70m and minus $10m, and a consolidated net loss of $363m-$423m, a figure that leaves out any loss contingency accruals. Its bookings forecast assumes the usual seasonal fall in DAUs from the third quarter, and the range is slightly wider than usual because a large share of bookings typically arrives in the last week of December, the letter said. Free cash flow is expected at minus $190m to minus $105m, a range that includes capital spending shifted from the third quarter into the fourth.

Third-quarter operating cash flow was $395m and free cash flow $364m, against $546m and $443m a year earlier. Cash, cash equivalents and investments stood at $6.2bn on 30 September. Roblox repurchased 4.4m shares for about $200m during the quarter and had about $2.4bn left under its buyback authorisation.