Roku CFO: Our Earnings Beat Reflects the Powerful TV Cord-Cutting Trend

Roku beamed its investors some engaging first quarter financials.

The streaming giant's  (ROKU) - Get Report shares climbed more than 4% pre-market Thursday following the company's better than expected first quarter earnings. Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden tells TheStreet the phenomenon known as cord-cutting plus more unique content continues to power the company's business.

One dizzying stat: the company saw 2.8 hours of streaming hours per active account during the quarter. That's a whole lot of former traditional TV watching time. 

"This is a secular transformation from legacy TV to streaming, and it's still early days -- but it just goes to show the overall scope of the trend," Louden says. "Not only do we believe that all TV will be streamed, [the trends are such] that all TV advertising will be streamed."

Memo sent to the shorts who have bet against (stock down 30% year to date) Roku this year on excessive valuation fears.  

The Numbers You Need to Know

Roku Beats Bottom-Line Estimates

Roku lost $0.07 a share in the quarter, better than analysts estimates for a loss of $0.16 a share.

Revenue Also Tops Expectations

Roku reported first-quarter revenue of $136.6 million, a 36% year over year increase, versus Wall Street estimates of $128 million. 

Roku Raises Full Year Guidance

The company raised its full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) guidance to at, or near, break-even. 

Average Revenue Per User Jumped

Roku reported that the average revenue per user (ARPU) was up 50% year over year to $15.07. 

Streaming Hours Surge

Roku streamed a mind-boggling 5.1 billion hours of content in the quarter, up 50% from the prior year.