Spotify is the most dominant force in streaming music.But streaming music is a really, really hard business to make money in.That's why Spotify has spent so much time and money trying to do things beyond streaming music. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Email address By clicking “Sign Up”, you ac ...

Martin Wahlborg/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction I am a big fan of Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) as a streaming service, and was surprised to find out that the stock currently trades almost two times lower than its all-time high. At the same time, Spotify demonstrates strong growth momentum in its critical success metric, the monthly active users amount ("MAU"). It drives revenue growth, and from the cost side of the equation the management also recently took a bold move to restructure, which will ...

The benchmark S&P 500 stock market index is approaching an all-time high. Around 12 months ago, it was almost inconceivable we would be in this position today, given the index was wrapping up 2022 with an 18% loss.But history is proof the S&P 500 always reaches new heights given enough time, which is why investing for the long term is so important. In fact, staying invested in the stock market for a period of 10 years gives you a 94% chance of making a profit.With that in mind, let's consider music streamin ...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) will post its fourth quarter 2023 financial results and deck to shareholders on Tuesday, February 6, 2024 before market open. The company will hold a question and answer session to discuss fourth quarter 2023 financial results at 8:00 am Eastern Time. Management will answer questions submitted via Slido. Questions may be submitted on the day of the call at www.slido.com using the event code #SpotifyEarningsQ423. A live webcast of the earnings ...

Spotify has withdrawn its support from two music festivals in France in response to the country’s introduction of a new tax that is opposed by music-streaming platforms.The company’s managing director for the France and Benelux regions, Antoine Monin, expressed his dissatisfaction with the tax in a post on X, and the company called the tax a “real blow to innovation,” TechCrunch reported Friday (Dec. 22).In response to the tax, Spotify has decided to withdraw its support from the Francofolies de la Rochelle ...

Spotify Technology stock was climbing Thursday after an upbeat analyst report cited confidence for the future of the audio-streaming-services firm after a strong year of gains. ...

Bryan Goldberg - Head of Investor Relations Paul Vogel - Chief Financial Officer Good morning and welcome to Spotify's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call and Webcast. All participants are in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. Thanks, operator, and welcome to Spotify's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Joining us today will be Daniel Ek, our CEO; and Paul Vogel, our CFO. We'll start with opening comments from Daniel and Paul and afterwa ...

User Growth - Total Monthly Active Users (MAUs) grew 26% Y/Y to 574 million, exceeding guidance by 2 million[8] - Total Monthly Active Users (MAUs) expected to reach 601 million, implying an addition of approximately 27 million net new MAUs in Q4 2023[52] Premium Subscribers - Premium Subscribers increased 16% Y/Y to 226 million, also 2 million above guidance[8] - Premium Subscribers grew 16% year-over-year to 226 million, up from 220 million last quarter[40] - Total Premium Subscribers projected to be 235 million, implying an addition of approximately 9 million net new subscribers in Q4 2023[52] Financial Performance - Total Revenue reached €3.357 billion, growing 11% Y/Y, with a 17% increase on a constant currency basis[13] - Revenue for Q3 2023 was €3.357 billion, an increase from €3.036 billion in Q3 2022[63] - IFRS revenue for Q3 2023 was €3,357 million, representing an 11% year-over-year increase from €3,036 million in Q3 2022[69] - Revenue excluding foreign exchange effects for Q3 2023 was €3,545 million, reflecting a 17% year-over-year increase[69] - Total revenue for Q4 2023 is expected to be €3.7 billion, with a 300 basis points headwind to growth year-over-year due to foreign exchange rate movements[52] Profitability - Operating Income was €32 million, a significant turnaround from an operating loss of €247 million in Q2 2023[9] - Operating income is expected to be €37 million, based on a Q3 close share price of $154.64[52] - Net income for Q3 2023 was €65 million, a significant improvement from a net loss of €166 million in Q3 2022[66] - Net income attributable to owners of the parent for Q3 2023 was €65 million, a significant recovery from a net loss of €302 million in Q2 2023 and a loss of €166 million in Q3 2022[67] - Basic and diluted earnings per share for Q3 2023 were €0.33, compared to a loss of €1.55 in Q2 2023 and a loss of €0.99 in Q3 2022[67] Cash Flow and Liquidity - Free Cash Flow for the quarter was €216 million, contributing to a strong liquidity position with €3.8 billion in cash and equivalents[31] - Free cash flow for Q3 2023 was €216 million, indicating a positive cash generation compared to previous quarters[73] - Cash and cash equivalents at the end of Q3 2023 were €2.615 billion, up from €2.851 billion at the end of Q3 2022[66] Cost Management - Operating Expenses declined 13% Y/Y, driven by lower marketing and personnel costs[27] - Operating expenses for Q3 2023 were €853 million, down 13% from €978 million in Q3 2022[71] - General and administrative expenses for Q3 2023 were €129 million, down 19% from €160 million in Q3 2022[71] - Research and development expenses for Q3 2023 were €369 million, a slight decrease of 4% from €386 million in Q3 2022[71] Revenue Streams - Ad-Supported Revenue grew 16% Y/Y to €447 million, with music advertising revenue increasing nearly 20% Y/Y[15] - Ad-supported revenue for Q3 2023 was €447 million, a 16% increase from €385 million in Q3 2022[69] - Premium revenue for Q3 2023 was €2,910 million, a 10% increase from €2,651 million in Q3 2022[69] Product Development - New features launched include AI Voice Translation for podcasts and a tool for artists called Showcase[8] - Expansion of AI DJ to 50 additional markets, enhancing user experience and engagement[8] Gross Margin - Gross Margin improved to 26.4%, up 166 bps Y/Y, reflecting better podcast trends and marketplace growth[20] - Gross margin is projected to be 26.6%, primarily driven by year-over-year improvement in podcasting, music, and other cost of revenue[52]

Daniel Ek Yeah, Doug. The way we think about it is, we're constantly thinking about how we can increase the value that we give our consumers on the platform, no matter if they're on their ad-supported tier or our paid subscription tier and really kind of increasing that sort of value to price ratio that we have. So I think, so long as we're able to bring more value to our consumers, then we should have the ability to raise pricing over time as well to sort of narrow that gap. But we're always going to be fo ...

User Metrics - Monthly Active Users (MAUs) reached 551 million, with net additions of 36 million, exceeding guidance by 21 million and marking an all-time high for the company [3] - Total Monthly Active Users (MAUs) grew 27% year-over-year to 551 million, exceeding guidance by 21 million [39] - Premium Subscribers grew to 220 million, an increase of 17% year-over-year, and 3 million above guidance [8] - Premium Subscribers increased 17% year-over-year to 220 million, with the largest Q2 net additions in company history [42][44] Financial Performance - Total Revenue for Q2 2023 was €3.177 billion, reflecting an 11% year-over-year growth, consistent with guidance [9] - The company reported a net loss of €302 million for Q2 2023, with a loss per share of €1.55 [74] - The company reported a net loss of €302 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, compared to a net loss of €225 million for the previous quarter, resulting in a basic and diluted loss per share of €1.55 [77] - IFRS revenue for the quarter was €3.177 billion, reflecting an 11% year-over-year increase, while revenue excluding foreign exchange effects was €3.271 billion, showing a 14% increase [78] Cash Flow and Liquidity - Free Cash Flow for the quarter was €9 million, indicating a strong liquidity position with €3.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents [12] - Free Cash Flow was €9 million in Q2, a decrease year-over-year, but averaged approximately €200 million of positive Free Cash Flow over the past three years [32][33] - The company generated net cash flows from operating activities of €13 million, up from €5 million in the previous quarter [76] - Free cash flow for the quarter was €113 million, a significant improvement compared to a cash outflow of €12 million in the previous quarter [76] - The company has generated €1.4 billion of cumulative Free Cash Flow since 2016, supporting a strong balance sheet with €3.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents [33] Operating Performance - Adjusted Gross Margin was 25.5%, up 22 basis points year-over-year, excluding one-time charges related to efficiency measures [19] - Operating Loss for Q2 was €247 million, impacted by €135 million in net charges, while Adjusted Operating Loss was €112 million, better than guidance [12] - Operating expenses for the quarter were €1.013 billion, a 13% increase year-over-year, with expenses excluding foreign exchange effects rising by 16% [79] - Operating Expenses increased by 13% year-over-year, primarily due to efficiency-related charges of €91 million [26] Revenue Streams - Ad-Supported Revenue grew 12% year-over-year, driven by double-digit growth in impressions sold despite softer pricing [14] - Spotify's advertising revenue is expected to benefit from improvements in podcasting and other cost efficiencies, contributing to overall revenue growth [61] Product Development - The company launched new personalized experiences for users and tools for advertisers, including a redesigned user experience and a new ad analytics tool [7] - The company plans to expand its AI DJ feature to Premium users in the UK and has announced a new original podcast with Trevor Noah [8] - Launched AI DJ feature for Premium users in the UK and Ireland, and redesigned the desktop experience to enhance user engagement [47] - Over 100,000 video podcasts are now available on Spotify, up from 70,000 in March 2023, indicating a significant increase in content offerings [53] Other Financial Metrics - The adjusted gross profit for the quarter was €810 million, with an adjusted gross margin of 25.5%, compared to 25.3% in the previous quarter [83] - The company incurred impairment charges on real estate assets amounting to €90 million during the quarter [76] - The weighted-average ordinary shares outstanding increased to 194,420,128, resulting in a diluted loss per share of €1.55 [77] - The company reported a net increase in cash and cash equivalents of €118 million, bringing the total to €2.550 billion at the end of the period [76] - The company highlighted that a 10% change in stock price could impact social charges by approximately €18 million, indicating sensitivity to stock price fluctuations [89] Future Outlook - The outlook for Q3 2023 includes expectations of 572 million total MAUs and 224 million Premium Subscribers, with total revenue projected at €3.3 billion [61]