Is Netflix about to buy Roku? Talk of deal swirls

Roku employees are gossiping about the possibility of an acquisition, according to a new report, and they're hoping it is Netflix. Business Insider has claimed employees at Roku have been discussing whether it's about to be acquired, right as Roku's stock has dropped.

The report noted a recent collapse in Roku's stock has made it "hard to compete with its larger tech rivals on pay in a tight labor market".

The result has been a "staggering increase in equity grants to employees, leaving Roku well underwater on stock-based compensation". Now, with the possibility of a Netflix acquisition circling internally among employees at Roku, the streaming media company has reportedly closed the trading window for all its staff, preventing them from selling any of their vested stock.

This is all according to "two of the people familiar with the matter", Business Insider said without naming its anonymous sources. 

Roku has built a voice system and advertising platform, and it makes video-streaming boxes and devices. It's where Netflix likely wants to go next. Having said that, Roku has never shown any interest in getting into hardware. But it's also facing more competition than ever with the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max. 

Simply put: Netflix might be looking to diversify its revenue streams, and Roku has more than 61 million active accounts and a dedicated hardware following. 

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