The U.S. economy is at the brink of a recession, which tends to be a major headwind for ad-spend. Still, Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) CEO says the long-term outlook on advertising remains strong as ever.
Highlights from CEO Wood’s interview with CNBC
Anthony Wood drives his optimism from conjecture that TV advertising will eventually switch to streaming. In an interview with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin at the Cannes Lions festival, he said:
Our ad business has been growing like gangbusters. The economy now is causing marketers to think harder about how they spend their money more efficiently and streaming is a very efficient way to spend ad dollars.
In April, Roku said it ended its fiscal first quarter with 61.3 million active accounts – slightly below the experts’ forecast. It, however, beat Street estimates for earnings and revenue in Q1.
Could Roku partner with Netflix on advertising?
In recent weeks, there have been rumours that Netflix Inc could pick Roku as its ad-partner, or may even proceed to acquire it. CEO Wood refrained from commenting on such rumours but said:
We’ve been a big partner of Netflix for a long time. But we’re great partners with a lot of streaming companies whether it’s Disney, YouTube or Hulu. That’s because we’re the number one streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Shares of Roku Inc have taken a massive hit this year, now down roughly 60%. Wall Street, however, remains “overweight” on the stock and see it climbing back to $158.
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