Roblox Q4 2022 bookings and engagement soar, stock rallies

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Roblox has reported its fourth quarter results for 2022, pleasing investors with the news that bookings and engagement are up dramatically both on a quarterly and annual basis. While the top line numbers are generally positive, Roblox is also ramping up its spending to future-proof its operations.

In the fourth quarter, Roblox bookings totaled $899.4 million, up 17% compared to Q4 2021’s $770.1 million. Controlling for inflation, this would have reached 21% year over year growth. Likely this was driven by Roblox’s growing audience. In Q4 2022, Daily Active Users (DAUs) reached 58.8 million, up 19% compared to this period last year. This tracked with hours engaged which rose to 12.8 billion (up 18%), but average bookings per DAU (ABPDAU) was down 2% to $15.29, from $15.57 in Q4 2021. This drop was driven by inflation as this would have grown 2% on a constant currency basis.

Roblox’s annual performance also showed impressive growth. Bookings reached $2.9 billion, up 5% compared to 2021’s $2.7 billion. Again, without inflation, this growth would have reached 9% year over year. Growth for the company is at a more sustainable level compared to 2021’s bookings growth of 45%. This suggests that Roblox is maturing as a company after the pandemic-era boom.

That being said, engagement is on the rise. Roblox’s 2022 DAUs grew 23% to 56.0 million and hours engaged reach 49.3 billion (19% growth). Despite this increased engagement, spending per user (ABPDAU) fell to $51.29. This is down 14% year over year. While inflation played a role — on a constant currency basis the drop would have been 11% — that doesn’t explain the full