New York, May 19, 2026, 08:07 (EDT)
- Roblox was changing hands near $47.41 before the bell in the U.S., coming off a strong move higher Monday. The NYSE hadn’t opened yet, with over an hour to go before the start of the core session.
- Needham maintained its Buy on the stock and stuck with a $60 target. The decision followed third-party numbers showing platform concurrent users growing week over week.
- Shares are still weak after Roblox cut its 2026 bookings forecast, blaming age checks and new safety rules.
Roblox Corp shares traded up in early New York action Tuesday, building on a recent bounce as signs point to steady user activity following a sharp selloff tied to child-safety rules.
Shares were at $47.4088 as of 7:48 a.m. EDT, Benzinga showed. The stock closed at $46.98 on Monday. Regular NYSE trading still set to open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Roblox investors had been searching for signs on whether the platform’s latest slump was just a short bump or something worse. Needham said its third-party data pointed to a pickup in concurrent users over the weekend, marking an improvement after about 30 weeks of overall decline. The firm held its Buy rating on Roblox and kept the $60 price target.
One result doesn’t mean recovery yet, Needham said, but it was enough to pull buyers into a stock still deep in the red for 2024 and the last six months.
Roblox revenue rose 39% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter and bookings jumped 43% to $1.7 billion. Bookings track user spending, mostly on Robux, and can be recognized as revenue over time. Daily active users came in at 132 million, up 35%. Total hours engaged reached 31 billion, up 43%.
Roblox trimmed its 2026 full-year forecast, pointing to heavier-than-expected hits from safety steps and age checks. The company said these measures hurt communication, new-user signups and engagement. Roblox now sees revenue growing 20% to 25% and bookings up 8% to 12%.
Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki told investors in the shareholder letter that the platform is aiming for “healthy, safe, and age-appropriate digital engagement.” Roblox said these steps will reduce its growth outlook in the near term; the company expects better content targeting, communication and sentiment later on.
Investors haven’t fully accepted the trade-off yet. Reuters said earlier this month that shares dropped after a weaker bookings outlook, as analysts questioned if safety measures might limit growth for more than one quarter.
Competition is still in play. Reuters pointed to analyst worry over Fortnite and Take-Two Interactive’s next “Grand Theft Auto VI.” D.A. Davidson’s Wyatt Swanson said Roblox could hit “further headwinds” for bookings in 2027 if growth comes before GTA’s release. Reuters
Roblox is looking to get more business from older users. The company told shareholders that U.S. users over 18 spend more—more than 50% higher monetization compared to those under 18. Roblox also set a higher effective creator payout rate for in-game spending from age-checked U.S. users 18 and up.
There’s a risk the weekend boost fizzles out. Extra age checks, more content rules or legal bills could still weigh on daily user numbers. A thin summer lineup or heavy competition could make it tough for Roblox to make up for slowing youth use with older users or ad spend.
Tuesday’s setup is straightforward: there’s a short user-data bump, shares are still battered, and the company wants investors to trade faster growth for better safety. That’s not an easy pitch, even after a rebound.
