Roblox Q2 Earnings Beat Sends Leveraged RBLU Soaring
- The leveraged RBLU fund surged nearly 25% following the gaming platform's earnings beat.
- Strong bookings growth of 51% drove gains across gaming and Web3 ETFs.
- User growth of 41% and raised guidance are boosting investor confidence.
Roblox Corp.'s (RBLX) strong second-quarter earnings drove a 23.7% surge in the T-REX 2X Long RBLX Daily Target ETF (RBLU) Thursday, with the gaming platform also held as a major position in gaming and Web3 funds.
Roblox reported $1.4 billion in net bookings, up 51% year over year, beating analyst expectations of $1.2 billion, according to CNBC reporting. Daily active users reached 111.8 million, up 41% year over year, while hours engaged jumped 58% to 27.4 billion.
Roblox's presence across multiple fund strategies reflects the company's evolution beyond traditional gaming, with CEO David Baszucki targeting 10% of the global gaming content market through investments in infrastructure, discovery and virtual economy development, according to CNBC.
RBLU aims for 200% of Roblox's daily price movements through swap agreements and has posted a 330.1% year-to-date return since launching March 4, according to FactSet. The leveraged fund has attracted $3.4 million in net flows with $6.3 million in assets under management and a 1.05% expense ratio.
Gaming and Web3 Funds See Earnings Boost
The Roundhill Video Games ETF (NERD) holds Roblox as its third-largest position at 9%, behind Nintendo Co. (NTDOY) at 12.4% and AppLovin Corp. (APP) at 11.3%, according to FactSet. The fund tracks a modified market-cap-weighted index of globally listed video game and eSports companies.
NERD has posted a nearly 28% year-to-date return with $24.6 million in assets under management and a 0.5% expense ratio, according to FactSet. The ETF experienced net outflows of around $379,000 year to date despite positive three-month inflows of about $665,000.
Roblox also ranks as the second-largest holding in the Bitwise Web3 ETF (BWEB) at just over 9%, trailing only Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) at 10.4%, according to FactSet. The fund provides exposure to Web3 technologies through companies positioned to benefit from decentralized finance, infrastructure, creator economy, metaverse and governance themes.
BWEB has generated a 28.9% year-to-date return with $4.5 million in assets under management and a 0.85% expense ratio, according to FactSet data. The Web3-focused fund has attracted inflows of about $5,000 year to date.
RBLX & Gaming ETF Comparison
| Fund | T-REX 2X Long RBLX Daily Target ETF (RBLU) | Roundhill Video Games ETF (NERD) | Bitwise Web3 ETF (BWEB) |
| Issuer | Tuttle Capital Management | Roundhill Investments | Bitwise Asset Management |
| AUM | $6.3M | $24.6M | $4.5M |
| Expense Ratio | 1.05% | 0.5% | 0.85% |
| 1 Month Performance | 70.6% | -5.3% | 6.3% |
| Year-to-Date Performance | 330.1% | 28% | 28.9% |
Source: etf.com & FactSet Data
Roblox raised its booking guidance for the third quarter to between $1.59 billion and $1.64 billion, compared to FactSet expectations of $1.42 billion, according to CNBC. The company reported a net loss of $279.4 million, or 41 cents per share, compared to a loss of $205.9 million, or 32 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
The platform recently rolled out age verification tools to address regulatory pressure on gaming companies to improve safety for younger users, according to CNBC. Chief Safety Officer Matt Kaufman said the tools will help create more mature content opportunities to retain teens and adults on the platform.
