Spotify beats revenue estimates on ads, user growth

Spotify Technology reported quarterly revenue on Wednesday that beat analysts’ estimates on higher advertising income and as more people subscribed to its premium service, sending the audio streaming platform’s shares up about 5 per cent in trading before the bell.

The company has bet big on podcasts, investing over $1 billion in acquiring shows such as the The Joe Rogan Experience and other businesses in a bid to draw users to a growing non-music audio segment.

"Overall podcast consumption is strong and increasingly sticky," said chief executive Daniel Ek during the investor call.

Total monthly active users rose 19 per cent to a record 422 million in the first quarter ending March 31st.

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The Swedish company posted a 24 per cent increase in revenue to €2.66 billion in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected revenue of €2.62 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Spotify said the share of podcasts in content consumption on its platform grew by double digits and reached an all-time high in the reported quarter.

Active users

The company now expects total monthly active users of 428 million in the second quarter following the closure of its Russian operations and the reversal of a loss of users after a service outage in March.

Spotify forecast second-quarter revenue of €2.8 billion, compared with estimates of €2.81 billion.

Premium subscribers, who account for most of the company’s revenue, rose to 182 million from 158 million, while advertisement-supported revenue rose 31 per cent to €282 million. – Reuters