Roku Inks NBCUniversal Deal For Peacock App, Ending Dispute

Streaming player Roku has reached a deal with media giant Comcast’s NBCUniversal to give Roku users access to the Peacock app. In addition, Roku and NBCUniversal have renewed their agreement to keep 46 NBCU broadcast and cable apps on the Roku Channel. ROKU shares rose 2.4% after-hours on Friday.

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The deal came after Comcast’s (CMCSA) NBCUniversal threatened to withdraw Peacock and other apps and programs from Roku. Peacock was launched nationwide on July 15, but was unavailable on Roku over disagreements.

Though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Roku (ROKU) said in a statement, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Comcast that will bring Peacock to Roku customers and maintains access to NBCU’s TV Everywhere apps. We look forward to offering these new options to consumers under an expanded, mutually beneficial relationship between our companies that includes adding NBC content to the Roku Channel and a meaningful partnership around advertising.”

Meanwhile, NBCUniversal added: “We are pleased Roku recognizes the value in making NBCUniversal’s incredible family of apps and programming, including Peacock, available to all of their users across the country. More than 15M people signed up for Peacock since its national launch in July and we are thrilled millions more will now be able to access and enjoy Peacock along with other NBCUniversal apps on their favorite Roku devices.”

On Sept. 18, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mark Zgutowicz maintained a Buy rating on the stock and assigned a price target of $195 (21.5% upside potential). He believes that Roku is well placed to benefit from the shift from linear to connected TV (CTV). The 5-star analyst notes that “the demand picture for Roku will soon climb to new heights.”

“Roku is a well-positioned beneficiary with its leading 40M+ CTV household reach, tightening gatekeeper status, and enhanced ad stack, while a reshuffle of linear to digital suggests more tangible Roku economics,” the analyst explained. (See ROKU stock analysis on TipRanks).

Currently, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 13 Buys, 5 Holds, and 2 Sells. The average price target of $167.21 implies upside potential of about 4.2% to current levels. Shares have gained 19.8% year-to-date.