On February 15, local time in the United States, Roblox, a Metaverse concept stock company, announced its fourth quarter financial report and full-year financial results for 2021.
According to the earnings report, Roblox's fiscal 2021 revenue was $1.9 billion, an increase of 108% compared to fiscal 2020; operating loss was $495 million, compared to an operating loss of $266 million for the same period in 2020; net loss for 2021 was $491 million, and net loss in 2020 was only $253 million.
Specifically, in the fourth quarter of earnings, Roblox revenue was $568.8 million, an increase of 83% from the fourth quarter of 2020. Operating loss was $139 million and net loss was $143 million. User bookings were $770.1 million, up 20 percent year-over-year, but below Wall Street's estimate of $772 million.
In 2021, Roblox developers and creators earned $538.3 million on the platform, exceeding their previous $500 million target and up 63.75% compared to the same period last year, but still below Roblox's overall revenue growth.
As the revenue and profit of the fourth quarter earnings report were lower than the market expectations, the after-hours stock price fell sharply by 15.28% to $62.1 per share after the earnings report.
Developer revenue is the biggest cost
According to Roblox's financial report, in terms of annual revenue, revenue in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 was $325 million, $508 million, $924 million and $1.919 billion, respectively. The company's revenue rose sharply in 2021, but losses are also expanding. During the reporting period, its net losses were $88.1 million, $71 million, $253.3 million and $491 million, respectively.
In terms of quarters, since 2019Q1, Roblox has widened the gap in net profit loss for 12 consecutive quarters.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the company's net loss was $143 million, nearly doubling from the Q3 net loss (Q3 net loss of $74 million in 2021).
Even if Roblox's annual bookings, up 45% year-on-year to $2.7 billion, still can't turn a profit. Bookings refer to the revenue that Roblox earns from the sale of Robux, which roblox's bookings are limited to the amount spent after purchasing Robux currency and represent only the total value of the virtual currency purchased by the player during the season, not the revenue.
The root cause is that the scale of creators on the Roblox platform has increased, resulting in higher sharing fees.
In terms of revenue composition, most of Roblox's revenue comes from virtual item sales revenue. Roblox has a self-built virtual economy system, players spend money to buy the virtual currency Robux, and spend Robux in the game to buy (this behavior is called "Booking") to experience scenes, skins, items and other products. After receiving Robux, the platform will return a certain percentage to the creators and developers who provided the content (Robux is converted into real-world cash).
Roblox financial report data shows that from Q2 to Q4 2021, Roblox developer revenue has remained above 30% of revenue. It is worth noting that although the revenue of each quarter gradually increases, the developer revenue still accounts for a large proportion, and there is a slight increase in the third quarter.
Developer revenue totaled $538 million in 2021, accounting for nearly a third of the year's revenue.
This part of the cost is the largest cost that Roblox has paid steadily. It also reflects the growing number of developers in Roblox's ecosystem and the increase in revenue from them.
The DAU has come down, and it is urgent to find a new breakthrough
In the era of the epidemic, Roblox users have grown rapidly.
User data shows that the average number of daily users increased by 55% to 45.5 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 40% year-on-year; the total number of user engagement hours was 41.4 billion, an increase of 35% year-on-year; and ABPDAU (average daily active user bookings) was $59.85.
Roblox's fourth-quarter earnings report showed bookings of $770.1 million, up 20% year-over-year.
However, with the slowdown in epidemic supervision in Europe and the United States, the growth of Roblox users is bound to slow down. Even if all indicators are lower than expected, the company is optimistic about what will happen after the epidemic slows down.
The company wrote in a shareholder letter: "Over the past three quarters, our absolute numbers have continued to grow as parts of the world have begun to return to a more normal lifestyle, as can be seen from the supplementary materials we provide. Specifically, users, user stickiness, paying users, and bookings are all at (or near) all-time highs. "
In a shareholder letter, Roblox said he chose to forgo quarterly guidance in favor of long-term value creation, noting three key goals. They are developing international markets, attracting older users, and expanding the platform's breadth of applications.
To expand into the international market, Roblox has partnered with Sony Music, Warner Music, NFL and others to build communities of creativity and positive relationships.
On February 9, Roblox announced a partnership with the NFL to expand the impact of the metaverse through NFL TYCOON EXPERIENCE and continue to learn more about the value of interactive shared experiences for the NFL.
In addition to expanding the scope of platform applications in music and entertainment, education has also become the focus of Roblox. On November 16, 2021, Roblox announced that the company has invested $10 million in a nonprofit to develop three educational games. They teach robotics, focus on space exploration, and help students explore careers and concepts in computer science, engineering, and biomedical sciences.
This is Roblox's first investment in educational games, with the goal of expanding its user base around a metaverstem strategy. Specifically, adolescents and preschoolers.
According to Q3 2021 data, the company's free-to-play platform has more than 47 million daily active users, about half of whom are under the age of 13. As a result, Roblox plans to bring educational video games to classrooms around the world, and the three games it has invested in will be available this year without selling any virtual goods.
Whether it's partnering with more well-known brands to open up international markets, build a richer world, or invest in different areas to expand its user base, roblox relies on sufficient financial flexibility.
Roblox's free cash flow reached $558 million in 2021. As can be seen from the Roblox balance sheet, free cash flow is abundant.
Michael Guthrie, Chief Financial Officer of Roblox, also said: "The foundation we laid allows us to invest in our business while continuing to generate strong cash flow, which is one of the most unique aspects of our business. ”
Roblox CEO said the company's vision is dedicated to technology and creating longer-term value that allows users to be deeply and immersed in the platform.
epilogue:
In the post-epidemic era, Roblox has nearly exceeded historical levels, but growth has continued to slow.
Through in-depth cooperation with brands in different fields, we create a diverse community and condense into a more powerful meta-universe platform with the passage of time, concept and technology.
From the RISE in DAU and booking volume, it is not difficult to see that in addition to the boom in the metaverse, it means that the ecology built by the platform around the metacosm is growing steadily.
Even with losses like an hourglass, the company hasn't stopped moving toward Metavalse.
Going forward, the metaverse will continue to change lifestyles through different interactive experiences. Users can watch concerts with friends thousands of miles away, or participate in virtual team buildings with colleagues from all over the world.
At that moment, Roblox will remain in the frontmost seat.