Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) Announces Earnings Results

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $2.00, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. Spotify Technology had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 33.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Spotify Technology’s conference call:

• Strong Q4 and cash generation. Revenue grew 13% to €4.5B, gross margin expanded to 33.1%, operating income was €701M, Q4 free cash flow €834M and year FCF a record €2.9B with €9.5B in cash and opportunistic buybacks.
• Record engagement and user growth. MAU net additions were the highest on record (now >750M MAUs), Wrapped drove ~300M user engagements and a company-record single day of subscriber intake.
• AI and product roadmap to boost personalization and retention. Spotify emphasized agentic experiences (Interactive DJ, Prompted Playlist), a unique language-to-music data advantage, and internal AI tooling (Honk) to accelerate development and user personalization.
• Ad-stack replatforming shows progress but ad growth remains modest today. Ad revenue rose ~4% (≈7% like‑for‑like excluding podcast optimizations), the new stack has attracted more advertisers and management expects stronger ad growth in H2 2026.
• AI-created music and content risks remain unresolved. Spotify is pushing an artist-first rights framework and metadata labeling, but warns of spammy AI uploads, rights/derivative complexities and competitive/legal uncertainty that could pose risks.

Spotify Technology Trading Down 9.5%

SPOT stock traded down $46.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $440.85. 3,266,889 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,476,347. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $538.15 and its 200-day moving average is $623.62. Spotify Technology has a 52-week low of $405.00 and a 52-week high of $785.00. The company has a market cap of $90.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SPOT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Spotify Technology from $830.00 to $650.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Spotify Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Spotify Technology from $750.00 to $720.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Spotify Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Spotify Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $735.00 to $700.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $706.42.

Key Spotify Technology News

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 blowout: Spotify beat revenue and EPS estimates (adjusted EPS well above consensus), reported record monthly active users (≈751m) and 290m premium subscribers, and showed margin expansion (operating margin ~15.5%). These fundamentals underpinned the post-earnings rally. Spotify Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management tone and leadership update: CEO/co‑CEO messaging emphasized tighter execution and a clear focus on AI/product monetization, which investors view as a credible path to sustain growth and improve monetization over time. Spotify CEO delivers strong message on its future
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI roadmap could unlock new revenue: Spotify highlighted AI-driven features (remixes/derivatives, fan remixes, plus expansion into video/audiobooks) that management says are ready to monetize — a potential multi-year revenue lever. Spotify eyes AI ‘derivatives’ as new revenue stream
• Neutral Sentiment: Content wins driving engagement: Artist-driven surges (example: The Grimm’s big streaming bump) show the platform’s ability to amplify catalog and terrestrial radio crossovers, which support long-term engagement metrics. The Grimm Roar Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst re-pricing: Some firms raised targets (e.g., Barclays to $650) while others trimmed targets but kept buy ratings (e.g., Guggenheim to $720), leaving consensus targets well above current levels — a two-sided catalyst for volatility. Analyst target moves
• Negative Sentiment: Pivotal downgrade and low target: Pivotal Research cut SPOT from Buy to Hold and set a ~$420 target, signaling near-term skepticism and contributing to selling pressure. Pivotal Research downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Ad-revenue and forward-growth concerns: Analysts and commentators flagged weaker ad revenue dynamics and the risk that ad recovery/growth may lag subscriber gains — a key reason some investors trimmed positions after the initial pop. Why the stock is still down
• Negative Sentiment: Structural-deceleration thesis surfaced: At least one note argued Spotify faces structural deceleration in certain revenue streams, prompting further caution among more growth‑sensitive investors. Seeking Alpha downgrade

Institutional Trading of Spotify Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 69.4% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 83 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Spotify Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $178,000. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Spotify Technology Company Profile

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.