Roblox's Q1 Financials Are Great, But Will It Maintain That Momentum?

Roblox is a publicly traded company now and that means that it's going to file quarterly financial reports. The first one, covering Q1 (January through March) 2021, hit yesterday and showed what everyone probably already knew: Roblox is big. Like, really big.

The company's revenue for Q1 2021 was $387 million, an increase of a whopping 121% over Q1 2020. Its bookings, i.e., the money it expects to bring in based on current subscriptions and other future revenue streams, was $652.3 million.

Average Daily Active Users (DAUs) were 42.1 million, up 79% year-over-year, with users over the age of 13 increasing by 111%. Customers logged 9.7 billion hours in Roblox, with 128% growth from users over 13. So maybe that plan to appeal to an older audience isn't so far-fetched after all.

Not content to just talk about its January through March numbers, Roblox also detailed how April went, showing that it had 43.3 million DAUs, 3.2 billion hours of engagement, $143-$145 million in revenue, and $242-$245 million in bookings. Those last two numbers might seem small compared to the Q1 numbers, but remember that they only account for a single month, while the previous numbers covered three.

All of the above information came from Roblox's earnings release statement. In its letter to shareholders, the corporation revealed that it had 1,054 employees at the end of March, up from 651 at the same time a year ago. Developer exchange fees -- i.e., the money that's paid out to creators in Roblox -- were $118.9 million in Q1, up 167% from the same period last year. The 1,000th-ranked developer brought in $30,000, compared to $8,000 a year earlier, and Roblox said that it would "share nearly half a billion dollars with the community this year."

One key question remains, however. Roblox made bank during the pandemic, when people of all ages spent more time indoors and used digital products like Roblox to socialize. That led to a spike in the game's income over the past 12 months, something the company isn't unaware of. Will Roblox be able to maintain or even grow that inflated user base as things return to normal over the next few months?

For that matter, how will the next quarter look as compared to Q2 2020, when lockdowns went into effect throughout much of the world and likely gave revenue a significant jolt? It's been all sunshine and profit for Roblox financials for a while now, but things are likely to look less rosy soon.

You can learn more about Roblox's financials on its investor relations page.