(Reuters) -Roblox Corp beat quarterly bookings estimates on Monday in its first earnings report since a blockbuster debut, as the U.S. gaming company benefited from a surge in spending by kids stuck at home due to the pandemic.
Shares of the San Mateo, California-based company rose 2.3% to $65.48 in extended trading.
The company, famous for its games “Jailbreak” and “MeepCity”, said bookings jumped 161% to $652.3 million in the first quarter ended March 31. Analysts had expected $504.6 million, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Roblox, like many gaming companies, benefited from a lack of outdoor entertainment and social interaction during pandemic-induced lockdowns last year.
The company, among the world’s most popular gaming sites for children, generated close to 39 million downloads worldwide from App Store and Google Play during the first quarter this year, a rise of 13% year-over-year, according to data from analytics firm SensorTower
Gamers are also splurging more. U.S. consumer spending on video games surged 30% to $14.92 billion in the first quarter, according to data from research firm NPD.
Roblox said quarterly net loss attributable to common stockholders widened to $134.2 million, or 46 cents per share, from $74.4 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
