It’s a good day to own ROKU, because soon, another media company may own Roku.
On Friday, Bloomberg reported Roku is in talks to sell itself, including a possible media tie-up. As a direct results, shares in ROKU (NASDAQ) closed Friday at $143.66 apiece, up 20.08 percent. It has been years since the stock traded at that level.
Roku has been in discussion with at least one U.S. media company on a possible combination, Bloomberg News wrote. No decisions have been made and the conversations may not lead to a transaction, the story was sure to note.
Roku exists in a strange space in 2026. The company manufactures devices that act as a gateway to streaming, but newer televisions do not need that. In response to that reality, the company pivoted to making Smart TVs — or at least the operating systems within that allow users to access Netflix, Disney+ and the like. Roku has messed around with original programming, though it is not exactly a player in that space. Americans do watch The Roku Channel, however: In March of this year, The Roku Channel represented 3 percent of all TV streaming, per the Nielsen Gauge.
And last August, Roku launched Howdy, a low-cost streaming platform.
“Priced at less than a cup of coffee, Howdy is ad-free and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services,” Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood said at the time. “We’re meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted and on their terms. Howdy is a natural step for us at Roku, extending our mission to make better TV for everyone, by making it affordable, accessible, and built for how people watch today.”
Howdy costs $2.99 per month.
In April, Roku reached a milestone, serving 100 million households worldwide, the company said as part of an earnings report.
It is certainly possible the Bloomberg story was placed to test the waters, or even just to breathe new life into the company’s stock price. It happens. Spokespeople for Roku did not respond to The Hollywood Reporter‘s requests for comment on the report.
