Buried in Netflix’s earnings call Wednesday were some details about the company’s sale of its stake in set-top maker Roku to Menlo Ventures. Asked about the sale, CEO Reed Hastings said the company “booked a gain pre-tax of about $1.7 million—after tax that translates to $1.035 million” on the deal. Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) had reportedly invested about $6 million in Roku two years ago, so the sale appears to represent a 28 percent return (A spokesman said the company hadn’t disclosed exactly how much it sold its stake for). A $1 million gain doesn’t do much to Netflix’s bottom line—Hastings said it was equivalent to two cents a share in EPS—but the deal could have some implications for Roku’s stated hope to have an IPO as soon as 2011. Seems that Menlo Ventures and the company’s other backers would expect a much bigger return than 28 percent if Roku sold its shares to the public.

{/exp:get_graph} {/exp:tweet_quote}