Arete Research Elevates Roku to Buy: What the Data Reveals About This Stock Move

Roku (NasdaqGS:ROKU) just got a significant vote of confidence. On January 5, 2026, Arete Research bumped its rating from Neutral to Buy, signaling renewed optimism about the streaming platform’s direction. The upgrade comes alongside a bullish price target consensus that suggests modest near-term upside potential.

Breaking Down the Numbers

As of December 20, 2025, Wall Street’s average price target for Roku sits at $117.75 per share, representing a 2.67% jump from the stock’s latest closing price of $114.68. However, analyst forecasts vary considerably—ranging from a cautious $73.73 to an optimistic $152.25, reflecting the divergent views on the company’s trajectory. Beyond valuation, Roku’s projected annual revenue is expected to reach $4,799MM, marking a solid 5.63% year-over-year increase. On the profitability front, the non-GAAP EPS projection stands at -2.92, underscoring ongoing challenges in achieving consistent earnings.

Institutional Appetite: Growing but With Caveats

A closer look at institutional ownership reveals a mixed narrative. Currently, 976 funds and institutions maintain positions in Roku, a modest increase of 17 stakeholders (1.77%) from the previous quarter. The average portfolio allocation to ROKU across all funds is 0.21%, up 9.46% sequentially. Total institutional ownership expanded by 0.21% to 126,007K shares over the past three months. Yet the put/call ratio of 1.44 tells a cautionary tale, hinting at lingering bearish sentiment in the options market.

The Big Players’ Recent Moves

Major institutional investors have sent mixed signals recently. Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund (FAGAX) trimmed its stake from 10,096K shares to 8,971K shares—a 12.54% reduction that represents a 24.35% decrease in portfolio weighting. Similarly, ARK Investment Management scaled back its holdings from 8,460K to 7,352K shares (down 15.07%), with portfolio weight declining by 19.62%.

Meanwhile, other players showed more nuanced activity. ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) modestly increased its position from 5,809K to 5,917K shares (up 1.82%), though it still reduced overall portfolio allocation by 10.93%. Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund actually added to its stake, growing from 4,059K to 4,147K shares (up 2.12%), and increased portfolio weighting by 13.73%. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, however, followed the retrenchment trend, dropping from 4,452K to 3,689K shares—a significant 20.69% decline coupled with a 12.83% portfolio weight reduction.

The Arete Research upgrade provides a contrarian counterpoint to some of these institutional pullbacks, suggesting that conviction investors see value where others are taking profits.