Roku Jumps After Reaching Deal With AT&T to Carry HBO Max
Bloomberg 12/17/2020 Gerry Smith
(Bloomberg) Roku Inc. shares hit a record Thursday after the biggest U.S. streaming-TV provider agreed to carry AT&T Inc.’s HBO Max, resolving a long impasse that kept the video service from reaching a wider audience.
The agreement announced Wednesday lets AT&T potentially reach millions of new subscribers who couldn’t previously access HBO Max via the Roku boxes they use to stream to their living-room TVs. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Roku shares jumped as much as 8.1% to $352.12 in New York trading Thursday. AT&T fell as much as 1.6% to $29.80, in part after Morgan Stanley cited headwinds such as an expensive spectrum auction in downgrading the stock.