Spotify cranked up the volume with another strong quarter, packing on 6 million paying subscribers globally in Q3 and issuing an upbeat forecast for the year-end quarter — saying it’s on track to hit profitability for the full year for the first time. The audio streaming giant met or exceeded its previous Q3 forecasts on financial and subscriber metrics. For the quarter, the company reported €4.
0 billion in revenue, up 19%, and record net income of €300 million, up more than fourfold from €65 million a year earlier. Operating income came in at a record €454 million, with gross margin of 31.1% versus 26.
4% in the year-earlier period. Spotify gained 14 million total monthly active users (free and paid) to stand at 640 million at the end of Q3. Premium subs stood at 252 million, with growth in the quarter across all regions and “outperformance” led by Europe and Latin America, the company said.
Shares of Spotify rose more than 8% in after-hours trading on the Q3 earnings announcement. “We’ve never been in a stronger position, thanks to the outstanding execution by our team. I’m incredibly proud of the way we’ve delivered and the progress we’ve made,” Daniel Ek, Spotify co-founder and CEO said in announcing the results.
“We’re where we set out to be — if not a little further — and on a steady path toward achieving our long-term goals.” On the company’s earnings call, Ek said he and other Spotify execs were in L.A.
this week meeting with cre.
