Roku explores sale after drawing interest from media buyers

Roku opened the door to a sale after drawing interest from media and technology buyers that want a bigger stake in the streaming ad market and in the software layer that controls the TV screen. The company has held discussions with at least one U.S. media company about a possible combination and has also considered a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, transaction, though no final decision has been made.

The appeal is clear. Roku reached more than 100 million active streaming households globally in the first quarter of 2026, delivered 38.7 billion streaming hours, and continued to expand its advertising engine. Platform revenue rose 28% from a year earlier to $1.13 billion, while advertising revenue came to $612.7 million, up 27%. Roku also reported $86 million in net income and $148 million in adjusted EBITDA, with free cash flow at an all-time high on a trailing 12-month basis.

Investors responded immediately. Roku shares jumped about 22% on the news, and the company’s investor relations page showed the stock at $143.66, up 20.08%, at 4:00 p.m. ET on June 12, 2026. That reaction reflects how rare it is for an independent platform with Roku’s scale to become available at a time when major media and tech companies are fighting for control of both the interface and the advertising dollars that flow through it.

A buyer would not just be buying hardware. Roku sells streaming devices, branded televisions and ad inventory, but it also sits between viewers and the services they watch, giving it data on viewing behavior and reach into the living room. That combination makes it attractive to acquirers looking for users, ad tech and operating-system reach in one package. It also creates tension: Roku distributes partner services while promoting The Roku Channel and other offerings of its own, making it both a gatekeeper and a competitor.

That competition is intensifying. Nielsen said in December 2025 that The Roku Channel was the No. 2 streaming app in ad-supported TV time, and separate Nielsen data cited in February 2026 showed it with 2.9% of total U.S. streaming usage, ahead of Tubi at 2.2% and Pluto TV at 2.1%. Roku has also shown it will work with larger rivals, striking a June 2025 deal with Amazon Ads that gave advertisers access to an estimated 80 million U.S. connected-TV households through Amazon DSP, more than 80% of U.S. connected-TV households. If the talks deepen, the outcome could reshape who controls the connected-TV interface, how ads are sold, and how much leverage consumers and TV makers have in the next phase of streaming.