Roku Inc's stock surged 5.03% during intraday trading on Friday, as investors reacted positively to the company's recent return to profitability and strategic initiatives to expand its free ad-supported streaming platform.
The streaming device maker reported its first full year in the black since 2021, with fourth-quarter platform revenue reaching $1.20 billion. The company has been expanding The Roku Channel's free ad-supported lineup with 17 new channels, launching new hardware like the Roku Pro Remote 2, and offering aggressive device discounts including a $50 Roku Ultra promotion.
These moves highlight Roku's push to deepen engagement and advertising scale on its platform, while using content additions and lower-priced hardware to attract more users into its free, ad-supported streaming ecosystem. The expansion of free streaming content directly supports Roku's platform revenue growth strategy that drove the strong Q4 results.