Roblox Is Everywhere; But Is the Stock a Buy?

dbooster in The Pub • 21 hours ago

Have any of you played Roblox? This game seems to be an obsession with the kids at my kids' schools. Minecraft is still super popular, but Roblox seems like the new kid on the block. Or at least the newly popular one.

I haven't played it myself, but just watching my kids, it seems like of like Minecraft with a bit less focus on building block structures and more focus on running around doing things.

Can anyone confirm that? Anyone play?

Unfortunately it's not on the Switch, so my kids constantly want to borrow my phone or laptop so that they can play it. Oh well. My youngest has even started saying he wants Santa to bring him a MacBook just to play Roblox. I wished him luck on that one.

I notice there is a Roblox stock — ticker symbol RBLX. It's around $94 as I write this, but looks like it's been falling over the past three months after hitting a high of $135 on Sept 19th. Not ideal in a bubble market where tech has been roaring.

Morningstar notes that Roblox has been shifting from preteens to older gamers with disposable income, which they think strengthens its investment case. I’m not fully convinced.

Robinhood lists it as a buy:

But Fidelity disagrees and flags it as bearish:

Fidelity also highlights a number of stories about parents suing Roblox for safety problems. That doesn’t inspire confidence.

It all sort of makes sense: Robinhood users skew younger and more speculative, while Fidelity’s base is older and more conservative.

But what do you guys think? Does this game have a future, or will it fizzle out as preteens move on to the next thing? Is the stock worth buying a few shares? Give me your thoughts.

[Isn't that lead picture wild? Roblox characters cosplaying as 1920s New Yorkers? I took this post and threw it in ChatGPT and my only instruction was "Make a title picture accurate to this post".]

❦

David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky.

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21 hours ago in The Pub by dbooster

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nattosenpai 15 hours ago

Beyond whether or not it's a good purchase or acquisition option, I believe that Roblox is not a viable option at all, especially if it's for your children. Simply doing a more or less in-depth search on the internet or on platforms like YouTube about Roblox reveals complaints about security issues, cases of harassment and child abuse.

If I'm not mistaken, I recently read about a class-action lawsuit being filed in the United States against Roblox, which includes parents with children who have been affected by these things.

I don't know anything about the other things you mention in the post, I'm just highlighting this about this game because, personally, a game with that bad reputation doesn't inspire any confidence in me.

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ookamisuuhaisha 12 hours ago

Thanks for your opinion. That's something that bothers me too. I'm not going to invest in the stock, but my kids bug me about buying Roblox or Minecraft for some time, and both the voices about malicious users, and events like this massive content removal are worrying..

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nattosenpai 36 minutes ago

I honestly believe (with all the ignorance I currently possess) that Minecraft is a better option than Roblox because at least with Minecraft your children can play without needing an internet connection. In contrast, Roblox absolutely requires an internet connection to be used, and that brings many dangers. Minecraft is an excellent option for playing solo in creative mode or with friends in survival mode. It's safe, since you don't have to worry about anything without an internet connection.

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ookamisuuhaisha 11 minutes ago

That's really helpful, thanks again!

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darth-azrael 15 hours ago

Roblox has actually been around longer than Minecraft. Roblox was first released in 2006 and Minecraft came along in 2009. One of my kids has asked for Robux (the in game currency) for Christmas the last several years and is always playing online with his friends. They have had some issues with adults harassing children in game but I think this is something they will resolve.

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nathen007 12 hours ago

Roblox has been massive in Thailand for several years now, which I'd suggest means it's peaked already. Trends come in waves, and this is one wave that's being missed, I would suspect. Of course, they may have other tricks up their sleeve that I'm not aware of.

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ookamisuuhaisha 12 hours ago

Interesting.. I've not noticed it's on the market. To be honest, I find it odd. I can't, for example, imagine seeing "Witcher" stock :D but I guess it makes sense if the company has really just one real product or something like that. I mean, yes, I understand the company is called Roblox too :) AAh nevermind :):):)

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bozz 8 hours ago

I think my brother in law bought some Roblox stock a while ago. Like back when his kids were really into it. I'm guessing he probably still holds it, but I don't know. If the privacy stuff really ramps up, it could be bad for Roblox. There are many concerns about the chat feature and kids being targeted by predators through the platform.

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animk 4 hours ago

The games are simple, they run on any phone regardless of the model, and it's easy to get into their ecosystem to play, which is why the company is growing, I suppose.

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