By Wallace Witkowski
Roblox Corp. shares plunged in extended trading Tuesday after the videogame company said that a key sales metric unexpectedly declined for the second quarter in a row.
Roblox /zigman2/quotes/223883423/composite RBLX -0.87% reported a second-quarter loss of $176.4 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with a loss of $140.1 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 30% to $591.2 million from $454.1 million in the year-ago quarter, but bookings fell 4% to $639.9 million from $665.5 million in the year-ago period.
Analysts, on average, had forecast a loss of 25 cents a share on bookings of $683.6 million. Analysts focus on bookings for Roblox and other videogame companies, as it reflects more than just the revenue the company was able to recognize in the quarter.
The company defines bookings as “revenue plus the change in deferred revenue during the period and other noncash adjustments.” The importance of bookings comes into play as the company sells virtual currency on its site that may be considered deferred revenue.
Shares fell 17% in after-hours trading, after closing with 3.4% decline in the regular session to close at $47.26 .
Read: The Roblox non-IPO: 5 things to know about the tween-centric gaming platform’s direct listing
Average daily active users, or DAUs, were 52.2 million, up 21% from the year-ago period. Average bookings for each DAU declined 21%, however, to $12.25.
Last quarter, Roblox shares also came under fire after the company reported an unexpected decline in bookings. Roblox stock logged its worst one-day performance since it went public after that report, dropping more than a quarter of its value in one trading session, following lighter-than-expected results as once-stuck-inside kids were finding other ways to spend their time.
The company did say that bookings rose 8% to 10% year-over-year in July, the first month of the third quarter. In their previous report, executives admitted that bookings were down in the first month of the second quarter.
“We are driving record levels of users and engagement globally as we execute on our innovation road map and broaden the appeal of Roblox across geographies and age groups.” Roblox Chief Executive David Baszucki said in a statement. “We continue to make progress on key operational and product initiatives to enhance the long-term value of the Roblox platform.”
Roblox shares are down 54% for the year, compared with a 14% fall in the S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX -0.09% , and a 20% drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598365/realtime COMP -0.16% .
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