By Nate Wolf
A videogame cheekily titled "Escape Tsunami to Steal Brainrots" is taking Roblox by storm.
Young gamers see the game as a fun way to earn rewards. Investors should see it as proof of Roblox's business model, according to Morgan Stanley.
"Escape Tsunami" was the top trending game on Roblox as of Wednesday, having racked up 256 million visits since being created on Dec. 15. As the name suggests, players attempt to avoid virtual tsunamis and collect rewards called "brainrots," characters that offer an ironic nod to the concept of mindless, addictive entertainment.
The popularity of the game "speaks to the power of this platform to continually surface new hits," Morgan Stanley analysts Matthew Cost and Brian Nowak wrote in a research note Tuesday night. The pair reiterated an Overweight rating and a $155 price target for the stock.
Shares fell 2.6% to $82.59 on Wednesday amid a broader decline in technology stocks.
Roblox is a two-sided platform. It draws in hundreds of millions of gamers and has a free game-development tool called Roblox Studio that enables amateur developers to create new games at lightning speed.
Several hit games emerged last year, which helped the company grow daily active users by more than 50% in 2025. But the barrage of blockbusters also left some investors worried about whether Roblox's growth was sustainable, Morgan Stanley noted. Annual comparisons will also get tougher for the company after such a strong year.
"Escape Tsunami" should assuage those concerns, Morgan Stanley said.
"While we fully acknowledge the unpredictability of the timing of new hit games and the uncertainty that creates tactically, we believe Escape Tsunami helps show that RBLX's user-generated content platform always has something new for users," Cost and Nowak wrote.
Barron's Adam Levine made a similar argument when he named Roblox a Barron's stock pick in November. The platform, he observed, "churns out new viral hits that are reaching ever-higher levels of popularity."
The value in new, engaging content isn't just in attracting new users, but also in retaining existing ones. The market is baking in some level of user churn in 2026, Cost and Nowak said. In their view, though, when users find Roblox, they tend to find new games and stick around.
"Escape Tsunami" is just the latest example of that virtuous cycle.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2026 14:08 ET (19:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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