Television streaming platform Roku, Inc. (ROKU) plans to launch its streaming players in Germany later this year, according to a report published by Reuters. Roku aims to benefit from consumer preferences for on-demand video streaming, largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roku will stream content from local partners, including Seven.One Entertainment Group, RTL Deutschland and Sky Deutschland, along with big names like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. (See Roku stock charts on TipRanks)
Arthur van Rest, Roku’s international expansion executive told Reuters, “There is a very big secular shift to streaming – that’s a trend that was accelerated last year by the pandemic… TV and the way that it’s being consumed are shifting dramatically – and we are right at the heart of that.”
Roku first entered the UK market in 2019 in partnership with Chinese manufacturer Hisense, which started marketing televisions with Roku TV. However, in Germany, Roku is launching its plug-in player first, citing that the online streaming content gives viewers the liberty to watch what they like and at any time of the day.
In Germany, Roku will face competition from Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast. Charges for streaming players to be launched in Germany have not been disclosed yet. In Britain, Roku charges a monthly fee of £29.99 for its streaming player, and viewers pay extra for subscription channels like Netflix.
Recently, Truist Financial analyst Matthew Thornton reiterated a Buy rating on the stock while lifting the price target to $390 from $367 (upside potential of 14%).
Thornton was impressed with Roku’s solid second-quarter results and believes that consensus estimates for the future are achievable. He also sees a huge total addressable market growth and over $9 billion of global reported gross profit opportunity for Roku across video advertising, content distribution and audience development.
Overall, the stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 14 Buys and 1 Sell. The average Roku price target of $494.53 implies 44.5% upside potential to current levels. Shares have gained 110.5% over the past year.
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