Can ROKU's Advertising Innovations Fuel Sustained Platform Momentum?

Roku's ROKU strategic pivot toward advertising innovation is poised to reshape its position in the connected television landscape. By pairing its self-service Roku Ads Manager with deeper integrations across major demand-side platforms, the company is expected to build an ecosystem that broadens its addressable market while strengthening monetisation capabilities. This transformation has lifted platform revenues by 18% year over year to $975 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Roku Ads Manager is designed to drive long-term expansion by targeting performance advertising budgets historically dominated by social media and search. The self-service tool allows small and medium-sized businesses to launch professional video ads within minutes. Features such as Shopify integration and shoppable overlays are expected to attract more direct-to-consumer advertisers, positioning Roku to capture spend migrating from traditional digital channels.

Enhanced integrations with major Demand-Side Platforms (DSP), including Amazon and The Trade Desk, are expected to drive stronger bid density and fill rates across Roku’s advertising inventory. These partnerships are likely to leverage the company’s authenticated base of over 90 million logged-in households to deliver precise targeting capabilities and support flexible pricing across advertiser segments and inventory types. The Roku Channel’s 80% viewing-hour growth is expected to provide the content foundation for greater advertising scale, while its 5.4% share of all U.S. TV streaming time (per Nielsen’s The Gauge) highlights market penetration that should enhance Roku’s advertising value proposition going forward.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 Platform revenues is currently pegged at $1.04 billion, indicating 16% year-over-year growth. Backed by advertising innovation that is opening new demand channels and deepening engagement, Roku is expected to sustain platform growth and secure a durable share in the connected TV advertising market.

ROKU Faces Competition in Connected TV Advertising

Roku faces stiff competition from Disney DIS and Netflix NFLX, both of which are accelerating their advertising strategies to capture connected TV budgets. Disney is expected to scale its Hulu and Disney+ ad tiers, leveraging blockbuster content to attract premium advertisers. Netflix is rapidly building out its ad-supported offering, drawing strong interest from brands seeking global reach and high engagement. While Disney and Netflix intensify pressure in the market, Roku’s integrated ad platform, self-service tools and authenticated user base are projected to help sustain platform momentum.

ROKU’s Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

ROKU shares have jumped 32.1% year to date compared with the Zacks Broadcast Radio and Television industry’s growth of 32.7% and the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s return of 10.4%.

ROKU’s YTD Price Performance

From a valuation standpoint, Roku stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 2.87X compared with the industry’s 5.01X. ROKU has a Value Score of D.

ROKU's Valuation

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at 7 cents per share, unchanged over the past 30 days, indicating a significant improvement over the year-ago quarter’s loss of 6 cents per share.

Roku, Inc. Price and Consensus

Roku, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Roku, Inc. Quote

Roku currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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