Roku revenue climbs 24% as Fox merger clears global hurdles

Roku posted a blowout third quarter Monday, just as its $22 billion tie-up with Fox Corp. keeps ticking through the regulatory gauntlet. Total revenue for July through September climbed 24% from a year earlier, landing at $1.5 billion. Earnings per share hit $1.20, up from 16 cents in the same stretch a year ago.

The streaming side of the house kept humming too. Viewers logged 39.9 billion hours on Roku TVs and connected devices, a 9% jump. Advertising, subscription and platform revenue each grew more than 20%, with ad revenue alone up 23% to $727.4 million.

On the merger front, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch told analysts earlier Monday that the deal has cleared every major regulatory hurdle outside the U.S. and already has shareholder approval in hand. Only one big gate remains: the Justice Department's antitrust division, which is still reviewing the transaction. Murdoch said Fox expects to close as soon as it can, adding that its conviction in the opportunity has only grown.

Roku's shareholder letter credited a stronger Media & Entertainment vertical for helping drive the quarter, noting it was the highest year-over-year revenue growth in four years as media companies spent more on the platform to push their content and services. Political advertising also punched above its weight: Roku said Q3 political spend beat the comparable quarter from the 2024 presidential election cycle, echoing what it reported in Q2.

The Fox deal is expected to wrap in the first half of 2027, leaving Roku and Fox to keep posting numbers while Washington weighs in. For now, Roku's core business is growing fast enough that the wait looks less like a stall and more like a runway.