September 11, 2024
(ROBLOX (RBLX) DELIVERS REAL MONEY TO DEVELOPERS IN A NEW INITIATIVE)
September 11, 2024
Hello everyone.
Palantir Technologies & Dell Technologies join the S&P500.
In a couple of weeks, Palantir Technologies Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. are set to join the S&P500 index. Shares of Palantir and Dell rallied in the extended session Friday after the news, gaining nearly 8% and 7% respectively. This movement is part of a scheduled index rebalancing, which is to take place on September 23. Also joining the S&P500 is the insurance company Erie Indemnity Co. (ERIE)
The three companies will replace American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), Etsy Inc. ETSY and Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. BIO in the S&P500.
American Airlines and Bio-Rad will migrate to the S&P MidCap 400 (MID) while Etsy will move to the S&P Small Cap 600 (SML)
Real Money earned by developers on Roblox in a new initiative.
Roblox, a gaming platform that generates billions of dollars a year in the virtual world is getting real.
Last Friday, the company stated that some game developers on the platform will be able to charge users real money rather than relying on payments through Roblox’s digital currency called Robux. The change applies to those games that cost money to play.
Game creators can now more easily sell to users without dealing with an intermediary virtual currency. This conversion to real money is part of the company’s plants to facilitate 10% of all global gaming content sales through the Roblox platform and reach 300 million daily active users.
Chief product officer, Manuel Bronstein, states that the goal is to increase the appeal of the platform to existing developers, who want options to create and make money from their games.
For a game that costs $50, the creator will pocket 70% of the earnings. Those that cost $30 and $10 will lead to payouts of 60% and 50%, respectively. Roblox users will be able to pay with their local currencies later this year from their computers, and the company plans to expand payments to other devices in the future.
The company hopes the pricing plan incentivises developers and small gaming studios who want to do something on a grander scale on the platform and earn bigger payouts.
Roblox derives the bulk of its revenue from sales of Robux, which people typically use to buy virtual goods. Roblox takes a 30% cut from those sales, with the developer getting the rest.
In August, Roblox’s second quarter sales jumped 31% year-over-year to $893.5 million, while its net loss narrowed to $207.2 million from $282.8 million during the previous year.
Roblox will also partner with Shopify, which will see developers able to sell some physical merchandise to U.S. users over age 13. Shopify said it plans for a “larger launch” early next year.
Roblox shares closed slightly lower last Friday at $43.64. They are now down almost 5% for the year, while the Nasdaq is up 11% in 2024.
The stock has dropped close to 40% since its first day of trading in 2021, when Roblox’s business was booming as kids flocked to the app during the pandemic.
ROBLOX CHART
Note: The Roblox article is an item of interest and not a recommendation to buy at this time.
QI CORNER
Cheers
Jacquie
