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Roblox drops after saying plans to prioritize safety impact may weigh on growth next year

The gaming platform reported its third-quarter earnings before the market opened on Thursday.

10/30/25 8:08AM

Gaming platform Roblox, one of the industry’s biggest “black holes,” reported its third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning. Shares climbed 8% as investors digested the results, before turning negative and dropping more than 9%.

Third-quarter bookings, or the amount users spend on Roblox, rose about 70% year over year to $1.92 billion, beating Wall Street’s expectations ($1.7 billion per Bloomberg-compiled data) and better than the company’s guidance range of between $1.59 billion and $1.64 billion.

Roblox boosted its full-year booking guidance of between $5.87 billion and $5.97 billion to between $6.57 billion and $6.62 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected about $6.2 billion on the year.

“While the path may not be entirely linear, we are increasingly bullish about our ability to capture 10% of the $180 billion global gaming content market on Roblox and, ultimately, become one of the great global consumer internet platforms,” per management.

The reason for that less-than-linear path and the stock’s premarket reversal appear to be tied to Roblox’s safety plans. The company has been the target of several child safety lawsuits. Roblox gave updates to its safety goals, saying that it plans “to require facial estimation for all users accessing communication functions, and to limit communication between adults and minors who do not know each other in real life.” According to Roblox, these new policies “may negatively impact platform engagement in the short term”:

“As we look to next year, our long-term objectives have not changed, though we recognize that tough comps and valuable new safety features will factor into reported growth in 2026. With respect to margins, we will continue to prioritize investments to support genre expansion and long-term growth. As a result, our operating margin could decline slightly year-over-year due to the combination of higher DevEx rates and the impact of infrastructure and safety related investments catching up with rapid bookings growth in the back half of 2025.”

An average of 151.5 million daily users played Roblox on the quarter, up 70% and easily beating expectations of 132.2 million users. In the same period last year, the company reported 88.9 million daily users.

Roblox paid out $427.9 million to creators in the quarter, up from $231.5 million in the same quarter last year. Through September, payouts have now reached more than $1 billion in 2025. The platform has shattered concurrent player records with popular games like “Grow a Garden” and “Steal a Brainrot” this year. Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley called Roblox a clear leader in next-gen entertainment, making parallels to YouTube.

Luke Kawa

Why extreme oil price volatility sets off alarm bells for markets and the economy

Nearly every time front-month Brent futures have risen or fallen 30% or more in a month, that’s been accompanied by above-average stock market volatility. In most cases, it’s either coincided with or been soon followed by a recession.

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Oil-sensitive stocks and companies relying on middle-class spending are getting crushed

Sometimes there’s a singular story driving the markets. With US benchmark crude oil prices topping $100 a barrel, Monday is one of those days.

Oil-sensitive stocks are getting clobbered, with airlines foremost among them. JetBlue, United Airlines, and Alaska Air are all tumbling.

But the pain is more widespread than that, with industries where oil prices are a major input, such as chemical manufacturers (Eastman Chemical), industrial machinery makers (Illinois Tool Works), and building products (Owens-Corning), also getting shellacked.

More ominous — economically speaking — is the performance of companies catering to America’s middle class, including Macy’s, Kohl’s, Best Buy, and Texas Roadhouse. The drop suggests that investors and traders expect the rising cost of fuel to eat away at disposable income, potentially setting the stage for an economic slowdown.

Some of the worst off on Monday are companies that are both fuel-sensitive and heavily reliant on middle-class consumers — a double whammy.

Cases in point: Carnival is getting creamed, and Clorox, a company that depends on slightly better-off Americans shelling out for its brand-name products, is also getting pummeled.

Stock futures tumble as war drives oil above $100 for the first time since 2022

Some of the worst off on Monday are companies that are both fuel-sensitive and heavily reliant on middle-class consumers — a double whammy.

Cases in point: Carnival is getting creamed, and Clorox, a company that depends on slightly better-off Americans shelling out for its brand-name products, is also getting pummeled.

Retro outdoor sign to save money on gas, Save $ on fuel

Where in the US have gas prices jumped the most since the US attack on Iran?

Drivers in some states are seeing pump prices rise much faster than others.

Hyunsoo Rim5h

Claire Yubin Oh5h

Live Nation reportedly reaches settlement with DOJ over Ticketmaster

Live Nation is jumping in premarket trading on Monday after reports that it has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over an antitrust lawsuit that could have forced the company to sell Ticketmaster.

After Bloomberg reported that the company was close to a settlement, The Wall Street Journal early on Monday reported that a deal had indeed been reached with an agreement that crucially spares the entertainment giant from breaking up with Ticketmaster, in return for making it easier for other promoters to compete in Live Nation venues.

The prompt agreement, with negotiations presumably intensifying since the trial kicked off on March 2, is expected to get relief to consumers faster than Live Nation going through a trial, per a Justice Department official cited by the WSJ.

Separately, Politico reported that the settlement would include $200 million in damages to participating states — a tiny fraction of Live Nation’s more than $36 billion market cap. Politico also expects Live Nation to divest more than 10 amphitheaters and cap Ticketmaster’s service fees at its amphitheaters under the agreement.

The settlement, which still requires approval from a judge, is set to be made public on Monday, and has seen about 10 states agreeing to the new framework, according to people familiar with the matter. Other state attorneys general may continue to separately litigate.

Live Nation Reaches Settlement in Federal Antitrust Case

Luke Kawa7h

Leo KoGuan, billionaire Tesla bull, tweets that he purchased another 1 million shares of Nvidia

Billionaire software entrepreneur, philosopher, and now major Tesla and Nvidia bull Leo KoGuan tweeted that he bought another 1 million shares of the chip designer.

“Hopefully, I can contribute a little to calm the nervous market. Good luck all,” he wrote in his message.

Unless KoGuan can work some magic in global oil markets or conflict resolution in the Middle East, however, “a little” may be all he’s able to contribute in favor of market tranquility.

Stocks, including Nvidia, are modestly positive this morning despite the spike in oil prices weighing on major indexes.

Billionaire Tesla bull tweets that he purchased 1 million shares of Nvidia