(Bloomberg) -- Roblox Corp. shares rose the most in nearly a year after the video-game company reported third-quarter bookings that beat analysts’ expectations and boosted its guidance for the full year, as the platform’s user base surged.
The San Mateo, California-based company reported $1.1 billion in bookings in the three months ended Sept. 30, a measure of sales, that were 34% higher than a year earlier. That beat analysts’ average estimate of $1 billion and the company’s own projections.
The company also raised its full-year bookings forecast to $4.34 billion to $4.37 billion from $4.18 billion to $4.23 billion. In the fourth quarter, bookings will be $1.34 billion to $1.36 billion, the company said.
Roblox shares surged 15.7% to $49.93 at 9:51 a.m. in New York, the most in nearly a year.
Online platforms like Roblox, where users can play multiple different games with friends, continue to capture players’ interest. Roblox users are spending more time and money on the platform every year. Roblox reported 88.9 million daily active users for the third quarter, an increase of 27%.
Roblox attributes its growth to its search and discovery feature, which uses artificial intelligence to help users find games they like. Roblox’s game developers are also publishing games the company says are higher quality, which drives users to spend more money in them.
In November, Roblox will roll out safety changes following widespread criticism of its policies and the arrests of alleged child abusers using the service. Children under 13 — about 40% of Roblox’s user base — will require parental permission to access certain chat features. In July, a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation showed that US police have arrested over two dozen people accused of abusing or abducting victims they met or groomed on Roblox.
In early October, Roblox shares declined 9% after short seller Hindenburg Research published a report alleging Roblox doesn’t do enough to stop child predators from accessing the platform. The report also accused Roblox of misleading investors with its user numbers, although analysts have questioned that claim.
Roblox addressed concerns over child safety in its press release Thursday, saying the company is “deeply troubled by any incident that endangers our users” and has a team of thousands of moderators.
(Updates with share price change in fourth paragraph. A previous version corrected the fourth quarter bookings forecast in the second paragraph.)
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