What happened
Shares of Roku (ROKU 1.91%) were 5.6% higher at noon EST on Monday. One analyst firm reiterated its bullish rating on the media-streaming expert's stock and raised its price target by 23.5%.
So what
Analyst Laura Martin from Needham confirmed her buy rating on Roku's stock, lifting her target price from $255 to $315 per share. Martin cited a handful of closely related market trends, starting with the cord-cutting phenomenon and rising sales of connected TV sets. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated all of these market shifts, boosting Roku's shareholder value in the long term.
Now what
Martin noted that Roku should be valued along the lines of other media aggregation platforms such as the mobile ecosystems from Alphabet's (GOOG 0.37%) (GOOGL 0.35%) Android and Apple (AAPL -0.57%) iOS. These systems have a proven ability to benefit from winner-take-most economics, which applies to the ongoing explosion of consumer interest in media-streaming solutions. In Martin's view, the market hasn't incorporated the full shareholder value of Roku's unique market position, which leaves room for a "material value upside."
Roku's shares have now approximately doubled in 2020. Even at these skyrocketing prices, I agree with Martin's analysis and would argue that Roku is one of the best ideas for new money right now.