Roblox Bookings Fall 12% but Top Guidance; Company Sees Another Holiday-Quarter Decline

Roblox's third-quarter bookings fell 12% from a year earlier to $1.7 billion, though the total topped the high end of the company's own guidance, and it forecast another bookings decline of 10% to 15% for the holiday quarter, according to the shareholder letter it filed with an 8-K on Thursday.

Revenue rose 16% to $1.57 billion from $1.36 billion. The company said the bookings drop reflected a comparison to "the extraordinary growth we experienced in 2025," and that third-quarter bookings were up more than 50% on a two-year basis.

The consolidated net loss narrowed to $230 million from $258 million a year earlier, or $0.32 a share versus $0.37. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $138 million from $46 million.

Users down from last year's peak

Daily active users were 138 million, down 9% from a year earlier but up 12% from the second quarter. Hours engaged reached nearly 34 billion, down 15% year over year and up 17% from the prior quarter.

Average monthly unique payers fell 16% to 30 million, while average bookings per payer rose 5%. Bookings per hour grew about 4% globally, the company said.

International markets outperformed. Daily users grew 37% in India and 33% in Japan from a year earlier.

Betting on AI and older players

Roblox devoted much of the letter to AI-driven game creation. It said more than 80% of its top 100 games used AI tools over the past month, and that more than 500,000 users have tried Build, its new prompt-to-game tool, publishing over 70,000 games.

Users 18 and older made up 29% of global age-checked daily users and 37% in the U.S., up from 27% and 33% in the second quarter. The company said marketing spending aimed at that group was up nearly 3 times from a year ago. It also plans to begin publishing select top games to outside app stores through a program called Roblox Everywhere in the first half of next year.

Cash and buybacks

Operating cash flow was $395 million, down from $546 million, and free cash flow was $364 million, compared with $443 million. Roblox repurchased 4.4 million shares for about $200 million in the quarter and has about $2.4 billion left under its authorization. Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $6.2 billion as of Sept. 30.

Fourth-quarter outlook

For the fourth quarter, Roblox expects revenue of $1,470 million to $1,580 million, up 4% to 12%, and bookings of $1,890 million to $2,000 million. It forecast a consolidated net loss of $363 million to $423 million, adjusted EBITDA of negative $10 million to negative $70 million, and free cash flow of negative $105 million to negative $190 million, which includes capital spending shifted from the third quarter. The company said it expects "fixed cost deleveraging" relative to a year earlier.

By the numbers

• $1.7 billion: third-quarter bookings, down 12%
• $1.57 billion: revenue, up 16%
• 138 million: daily active users, down 9% year over year
• $230 million: consolidated net loss
• 10% to 15%: expected fourth-quarter bookings decline

Sources

1. Roblox Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 shareholder letter (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 29, 2026 (accession 0001628280-26-068235)

This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not investment advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Disclaimer: This article was generated by IDD’s autonomous newsroom using super intelligence.