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Despite shares climbing about 45% last year and another 14% in 2026 so far, streaming TV pioneer Roku (ROKU) still doesn't get the kind of attention its larger media and tech peers do. Based on the company's strong first-quarter results, however, some investors may be hoping that's about to change. The company's first-quarter 2026 earnings report, released Thursday, blew past expectations on both the top and bottom lines -- and management raised full-year guidance to boot. But should investors buy after the latest results? Unfortunately, the answer isn't as clear-cut as investors would probably like. While the underlying business is firing on all cylinders, the valuation arguably doesn't leave much margin of safety for new investors. Still, this arguably underfollowed growth stock is worth examining closely. A standout quarter Roku's first-quarter total net revenue climbed 22% year over year to $1.25 billion, beating both management's $1.2 billion outlook and Wall Street's expectations. The more important story, however, sat inside the platform segment, which houses both advertising and subscription revenue. Platform revenue grew 28% year over year to $1.13 billion -- a notable step up from 17% growth in the third quarter of 2025 and 18% growth in Q4. For the first time, Roku also broke out the two main streams within its platform segment. Advertising revenue rose 27% to $613 million, while subscription revenue jumped 30% to $519 million. CEO Anthony Wood said on the company's first-quarter earnings call that the quarter benefited from the Olympics and the Super Bowl -- both of which lifted media-and-entertainment ad spend and drove subscription sign-ups. Premium subscription momentum was further helped by the recent addition of Apple TV in March; Roku also announced Peacock after quarter-end as another tier-one partner. Profitability also took a notable leap. Roku's net income reached $86 million, compared with a $27 million loss in the year-ago quarter. And its adjusted EBITDA jumped 165% to $148 million, while free cash flow came in at $148 million as well -- the company's second-highest quarterly total on record. Even more, Roku crossed an important threshold in April, surpassing 100 million streaming households globally. Streaming hours rose 8% to 38.7 billion. Looking ahead, management raised its full-year platform revenue guidance by more than $100 million, now targeting growth of nearly 21%. And management said second-quarter total revenue is expected to be about $1.3 billion, with platform growth of roughly 20%.
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