Roblox Sinks 59% in a Year as Q3 Guidance Points to an 18% Bookings Drop

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Key Takeaways

• Roblox reports Q3 results on <a href="https://comicvibe.com/october-28s-new-marvel-comics-the-full-list/” title=”October 28's New Marvel Comics: The Full List”>October 29 after guiding bookings to $1.58 billion to $1.65 billion, a 14% to 18% decline and its first forecast drop.

• Q2 bookings grew just 8% to $1.56 billion even as daily active users rose 10% to 123 million.

• Shares at $53 are down 59.1% over the past year and trade above the $50 average analyst target.

• More than 180 federal child-safety cases and a new AI creation platform from Alphabet and Unity add risk beyond the bookings reset.

A year ago, Roblox was one of the market’s favorite growth stories. Today it is guiding to shrinking bookings.

Roblox (RBLX:NYSE) closed Friday at $53, down 59.1% over the past year and about 61% below its 52-week high of $135. It even trades above the $50 average analyst target, a sign of how far estimates have fallen.

Thursday’s Q3 report is the first test of management’s reset. Investors mostly want to know whether this is the bottom.

Engagement grew as spending stalled

• Revenue rose 36% to $1.47 billion.

• Bookings grew 8% to $1.56 billion, the low end of guidance and down from 70% growth in Q3 2025.

• Daily active users rose 10% to 123 million, with 82% outside the U.S. and Canada.

Players drifted away from high-spending viral hits. At the same time, Roblox retuned discovery to favor long-term retention at the expense of near-term spending, which hit monetization.

Revenue still grows because Roblox recognizes most bookings over about 27 months. So the 2025 surge keeps flowing into reported results.

Reported revenue hides the slowdown, at least for now…

That lag is running out. Q3 guidance calls for revenue growth of just 4% to 10%.

A reset with a long fuse

For Q3, Roblox guided bookings to $1.58 billion to $1.65 billion, a 14% to 18% decline. Adjusted EBITDA is expected between roughly break-even and $41 million. Management also pulled full-year guidance and moved to quarterly outlooks only.

The long-term pitch stands. “Our conviction in the ability to deliver 20%+ compounded top line growth over the long term has not changed,” management wrote in its Q2 shareholder letter.

Safety changes add friction. Roblox now requires facial age checks for chat access, runs age-based accounts with tighter limits, and has expanded parental controls. Those steps protect the platform but likely weigh on engagement in the near term.

Competition is shifting too. Alphabet (GOOGL:NASDAQ) and Unity Software (U:NYSE) announced an AI-powered game creation platform on October 7, and Roblox shares fell on the news. Roblox has answered with its own expanded creator tools.