Spotify Projects Strong Fourth-Quarter Profit Amid Price Hikes, User Growth
- tech360.tv
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Spotify expects significant fourth-quarter profit, driven by robust user growth and recent price increases. The audio-streaming company forecasts an operating income of 620 million euros (USD 723.04 million) for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates.
This projection follows the organisation's strong third-quarter earnings, which also surpassed expectations. Founder-Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek is scheduled to transition to executive chairman in Jan.
Spotify has relied on price adjustments in recent years to boost earnings growth. It increased the cost of its premium individual plan in over 150 markets during the Sept. quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek indicated investment priorities centre on top-line growth, user acquisition in emerging markets, and expanding content offerings. Ek stated there is "still a lot of room left for us to grow in our core business."
Content expansion focuses on including more podcasts, videos, and audiobooks. Spotify launched features such as a high-quality streaming option known as lossless audio to attract more users.
The company's audiobook catalogue has tripled to 500,000 titles across 14 markets since their launch approximately two years ago. This expansion led to an increase of more than a third in audiobook listeners and consumption hours.
Additionally, nearly 500,000 video podcast shows are now available on the platform. In the third quarter, premium subscribers increased by 12% to 281 million.
Monthly active users saw a net addition of 17 million, bringing the total to 713 million, surpassing forecasts. Spotify forecasts an 8 million rise in premium subscribers for the fourth quarter.
This would bring the total to 289 million, slightly below the 290.9 million estimate. The company faces intense competition from Apple and Amazon's music streaming offerings.
Spotify's fourth-quarter monthly active users forecast stands at 745 million, exceeding the 737.3 million estimate. Fourth-quarter revenue is projected at 4.5 billion euros, aligning with the 4.57 billion estimate.
This follows a third-quarter revenue increase of 7% that topped expectations. Spotify shares experienced a marginal decline in volatile morning trading, though the stock has increased approximately 44% this year.
Spotify projects fourth-quarter operating income of 620 million euros (USD 723.04 million), exceeding estimates.
The forecast is attributed to robust user growth and recent price increases across over 150 markets.
Founder-Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek will transition to executive chairman in January, following a September announcement.
Source: REUTERS