Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) is one of the surprise breakout stocks of 2025. This top gaming stock has nearly doubled since the beginning of April and recently was sitting close to a 52-week high.
The company has posted more than 20% quarterly revenue growth on a year-over-year basis for seven consecutive quarters. It seems well positioned to keep the momentum going based on the popularity of a new game, Grow a Garden, that is trending on the platform right now.
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Roblox is the best video game stock to hold for the long term. While its run this year has lifted the valuation to expensive-looking multiples of sales and free cash flow, the company's growth prospects make the stock a compelling buy.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why the stock is soaring in 2025
Roblox has been growing revenue much faster than the big video game companies like Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and Take-Two Interactive. Roblox also has a much different business model than these companies, which explains why it's growing faster.
Operating Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts
What makes Roblox such a powerful platform for growth is its user-created content strategy. This is a lower-risk strategy than that of big game publishers like Take-Two, which take on the risk of spending millions of dollars to make a game.
Roblox pays earnings (developer exchange fees) to the creators with the most engaging content. This makes up around a quarter of the company's revenue. This isn't an expense as much as an investment in content production, similar to how Netflix spends billions on content every year and attracts a large audience. Over the last four quarters, Roblox spent $1 billion in developer exchange fees while generating $3.8 billion in revenue.
More content attracts more users. Roblox's daily active users grew 26% year over year to 97.8 million in the first quarter. What's interesting is that the platform is starting to attract older kids. In the first quarter, 62% of daily active users were older than 13, and this percentage has been trending higher in recent years. This broadens Roblox's addressable market and increases its growth opportunity.
A growth machine
The success of Grow a Garden, which currently has more than 2 million players spending time with the game every day, shows why Roblox could be a compelling growth stock to hold for the long term. Its large pool of content creators can release an engaging new experience like this at any time that attracts more players and drives upside to revenue.
Management is targeting more than 20% compound annual growth in revenue through at least 2027. It believes it can capture 10% of the $180 billion annually spent on video games over the long term.
One trend supporting favorable long-term prospects is the video game industry's historical growth with technological advancement. For example, Roblox could benefit from innovation in virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and continued improvement in graphics technology.
Why the stock is a long-term buy
The biggest risk for the stock in 2025 is its high valuation. The stock currently trades at a high price-to-sales ratio of 17.5. Even taking into account its growing free cash flow, the stock trades at a valuation of 76 times trailing free cash flow. At these high multiples, investors should be prepared for a pullback, especially after hitting a milestone $100 share price, which could serve as an excuse for traders on Wall Street to take profits.
Any dip in the share price in the near term is a buying opportunity for long-term investors. Roblox still has other growth catalysts on the horizon, such as digital ads. It just announced a partnership with Alphabet's Google Ads to launch video ad formats on the platform, which bolsters Roblox's opportunity in the $700 billion digital ad market.
Roblox brings together two powerful growth drivers on a single platform -- growing demand for interactive entertainment and social media. Many players like Roblox because they get to socially connect with others while engaging in fun experiences. This dynamic could carry the company a long way.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Netflix, Roblox, and Take-Two Interactive Software. The Motley Fool recommends Electronic Arts and Nintendo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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