Roku stock pops after company partners with Walmart on shoppable ads

Shares of Roku Inc. ROKU, +4.89% are up more than 4% in premarket trading Friday after the streaming-media company announced a shopping-related partnership with Walmart Inc. WMT, -1.93%. The two companies said late Thursday that they are working “to make TV streaming the next e-commerce shopping destination” and have inked a partnership that will make Walmart “the exclusive retailer” allowing streaming viewers to purchase products fulfilled by the company and directly on Roku’s platform. “We’re working to connect with customers where they are already spending time, shortening the distance from discovery and inspiration to purchase,” Walmart Chief Marketing Officer William White said in a release. Roku will use its OneView technology to “activate and measure” the shippable advertisements, per the release. Roku shares have declined about 32% over the past three months as the S&P 500 SPX, +0.22% has fallen roughly 16%.