OTT Player Roku Sets Sights On $100 Million IPO

Roku is considering a $100 million initial public offering.

For the first six months of 2017, the OTT video streaming set-top player pulled in $199.7 million. That's compared with $162 million for the same period last year. Net losses for the first six months of the year narrowed to $24.2 million. For full-year 2016, Roku had revenue of $399 million.

Roku commands a 37% share of U.S. broadband homes as of the first quarter of 2017, according to Parks Associates — up from 30% first-quarter 2016. According to estimates, there are about 110 million U.S. homes with broadband.

After Roku, the biggest OTT set-top player is Amazon's Fire TV — at a 24% share, up from 22%. Two other major OTT set-top players are Google's Chromecast and Apple TV — have declined, according to Parks. 

Chromecast now has an 18% share (from 22% a year ago) and Apple TV has a 15% share, down from 20%.

Roku wants to expand into more TV households as it competes with growing OTT moves from bigger technology companies, as well as smart TV manufacturers.

Analysts expect Roku's IPO fund-raising estimate will change once its investment bankers adjust to the marketplace. Typically, it takes companies two to four months to complete their IPO, after getting approval from federal regulators.

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