Markets
Roblox App
Roblox app (Thiago Prudêncio/Getty Images)
Adding Up

Roblox’s new Google advertising partnership could give investors 1.2 billion reasons to smile

Morgan Stanley says the gaming giant’s immersive ads are a “highly effective new ad format,” now “incrementally bullish from here.”

Nia Warfield

Roblox shares jumped nearly 3% Wednesday morning as Wall Street continued to cheer its new ad parnership with Google. On Tuesday, the gaming giant unveiled its new rewarded video ads — 30-second clips that players can watch in exchange for in-game perks like extra lives or boosts. In the coming weeks, brands will be able to buy these ads directly or through Google’s platform, expanding Roblox’s ad business.

Morgan Stanley analysts think the partnership could be a turning point for Roblox’s advertising strategy, estimating it could generate a massive $1.2 billion in revenue in 2026. They noted that, unlike Roblox’s existing billboards and portal ads, rewarded videos have a proven track record of driving higher engagement, clearer impressions, and the ability to reuse content.

“Most of [Roblox’s] engagement is entirely unmonetized and ads are a key tool to turn that deficit into a strength,” analysts said in a note Wednesday. “We would also highlight that by giving consumers Robux to spend in experiences, these ads will not only drive developer earnings directly, but could also condition a greater proportion of users to make in-app purchases in general.” 

Roblox has 85.3 million daily active users, mostly Gen Z. Roblox’s ambitions are even bigger: last fall, CEO and cofounder David Baszucki set a target of hitting 1 billion users and 10% of all gaming content revenue worldwide.

Morgan Stanley has an “outperform” rating on Roblox and price target of $75.

Roblox shares are up 70% over the past year.

More Markets

See all Markets
Dickens, Great Expectations, He said, Aha! would you?

Tech tumbles as momentum stocks run into a blowout jobs report and a wave of profit-taking

The AI trade is under some pressure, taking prices back like... a few days. President Donald Trump is not a fan of the price action.

Trump Administration Considers Reclassifying Marijuana As A Less Dangerous Drug

Trulieve to list on NYSE, a first for US cannabis sector

More may be on the way: several other US cannabis companies have announced reverse stock splits with the intention of listing on a major exchange.

markets

Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.