Roku Shares Pop On Smart Home Rumors: What Investors Should Know

Streaming device company Roku Inc ROKU continues to grow its advertising revenue. The company could have another trick up its sleeve with further penetration into the smart home market.

What Happened: A new report from Protocol highlights Roku job postings, recent hires and acquisitions all pointing to developing smart home products in-house and through possible partnerships.

A Roku spokesperson declined to comment on the rumor but pointed out the company’s whole home audio licensing program.

Roku pulled a job listing for a “Director of Product Management, Home Technologies.” The role was seeking someone who could help develop Roku’s home technology product strategy, according to the report.

Roku hired Damir Skripic, who comes from Amazon.com AMZN and has experience working with companies that had products in the smart home and smart home security markets.

A job posting from Roku is seeking a senior business development manager to help secure partnerships with existing smart home hardware manufacturers. This could help Roku partner with smart home companies to integrate the offerings into the Roku streaming and smart TV platforms.

Related Link: Roku Pulls YouTubeTV From Platform: What Investors Should Know

Why It’s Important: Roku acquired Danish audio startup Dynastrom in 2017 and purchased the intellectual property assets for wireless networking from Blackfire Research in 2019.

Roku has launched several audio offerings like wireless speakers in 2018.

The company’s main revenue source remains advertising but Roku could be shifting to hardware once again to help make the company more competitive with offerings from Amazon.com and Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL that can integrate smart home solutions into the television.

Roku could be seeking to both grow its user base and retain users from competitors, according to Protocol.

Price Action: Shares of Roku are up 6% to $350.80 on Monday.