Roblox shares fall 70% following lower-than-expected monetisation during Q2

Roblox took a sharp hit after second-quarter results showed monetisation running 2% below internal guidance, dragging bookings down and sending shares down 70%. The miss was most visible in the under-13 audience, where average bookings per daily active user came in weaker than expected.

CFO Naveen Chopra said the shortfall came from a bigger-than-expected shift in engagement away from high-monetising viral hits toward newer and evergreen experiences with lower hourly monetisation. That was compounded by recommendation changes designed to improve long-term retention, which pushed more impressions toward sticky games and away from near-term revenue.

For developers, this is a useful reminder that platform-level discovery and audience mix can swing monetisation even when engagement is healthy. Roblox is now trying to offset the headwind by improving age-aware recommendations, but management said monetisation weakness is likely to continue. Third-quarter bookings are forecast at $1.58 billion to $1.65 billion, down 14% to 18% year over year.

The company also flagged higher infrastructure costs from AI-powered tools, including Build, and declined to issue revised full-year guidance because of the wide range of possible outcomes in Q4. Roblox is still leaning into AI, content diversification, retention, and safety, but those bets are clearly creating near-term pressure on revenue.