Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney raised his rating on Roku from In Line to Outperform, citing a combination of accelerating platform revenue growth and improved margins in the core streaming business. Mahaney highlighted Roku’s 28% year-over-year increase in platform revenue during the most recent quarter, driven by higher advertising spend and international expansion. He pointed to operating leverage benefits as content and delivery costs grow more slowly than top-line revenue, forecasting that Roku’s adjusted EBITDA margin could expand by 300 basis points over the next four quarters. Based on his new valuation model, which assumes continued ad load optimization and user engagement gains, Mahaney projects a potential 31% upside in Roku’s share price from current levels.

At CES 2026, CEO Anthony Wood outlined plans to distribute Howdy, Roku’s ad-free streaming channel launched in August at $2.99 per month, on platforms beyond Roku’s proprietary hardware. Wood emphasized that while Howdy filled a market gap for low-cost, no-advertisement streaming, the service will soon be available on mobile apps, web browsers and potentially smart TVs from other manufacturers. Although he declined to disclose current subscriber counts, Wood noted that early uptake exceeded internal projections by 20% in the first quarter of availability. By extending Howdy’s reach off-platform, Roku aims to capture a larger share of the global streaming market and drive incremental subscription revenue without incremental ad inventory pressures.