What happened

Shares of Roku (ROKU 4.23%) climbed 46.5% in August, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the streaming-media platform leader announced impressive second-quarter results.

Roku soared more than 20% on Aug. 9 alone -- the first trading day after the company revealed its quarterly revenue increased 59% to $250.1 million, translating to a loss of $0.08 per share. Analysts, on average, were modeling a net loss of $0.21 per share on revenue closer to $224.4 million. 

Roku streaming device next to a TV displaying the search section of the ROKU app.

IMAGE SOURCE: ROKU.

So what

Roku's top-line growth was driven by a combination of a 24% increase in player revenue to $82.4 million, and 86% growth in platform revenue to $167.7 million. To the latter end, Roku's number of active accounts climbed 1.4 million sequentially from last quarter to 30.5 million, its number of streaming hours grew 72% year over year to 9.4 billion, and its average revenue per user (over the trailing-12-month period) jumped $2 sequentially to $21.06.

"The industrywide shift to streaming is accelerating," elaborated Roku's founding CEO, Anthony Wood. "Our business momentum and ongoing investment in areas of competitive differentiation continue to drive growth and attract users, advertisers, and content publishers."

Now what

Roku also raised its full-year outlook to call for 2019 revenue of $1.075 billion to $1.095 billion, up from $1.03 billion to $1.05 billion previously and representing 46% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. 

If that wasn't enough, last week Roku announced its new Smart Soundbar and Wireless Subwoofer products, then followed on Saturday by expanding its Roku TV licensing program into Europe. If either or both these initiatives help spur its momentum further in the coming quarters, Roku's gains last month could be just the beginning of a longer-term trend.