(BFM Bourse) – The world number one in online music Spotify jumped 14% on Wall Street after the announcement of a slightly stronger than expected increase in the number of its subscribers.
Despite a widening of its losses, the world’s number one online music company Spotify delighted the stock market on Tuesday with its second quarter results, marked by a higher number of subscribers than expected. Shortly after the opening of the New York Stock Exchange, the action of Spotify gained 14%, to 118.55 dollars.
Between April and June, the Swedish audio platform suffered a net loss of 125 million euros, compared to 20 million in the second quarter of 2021. However, at the same time, the number of paying subscribers increased by 14% to 188 million , for a total of users – including the free version with advertisements – reaching 433 million (+19% over one year). Analysts on average had expected a loss of $127 million and a paid subscriber count of 187 million, according to Bloomberg.
Withdrawal from Russia
Spotify justified the widening of its losses by higher personnel costs due to its new acquisitions as part of its development strategy in the podcast.
Despite a context deemed uncertain, the world’s leading audio platform is pleased with the solidity of its number of subscribers, despite its withdrawal from Russia. “Excluding the impact of our exit from Russia and the disruption of our services that we faced in March (…), we gained 19 million monthly active users during this quarter, our best second quarter ever,” Spotify said.
Like many Western companies, the platform had suspended its activities in Russia in reaction to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Podcast progress
At the end of the second quarter, Spotify had 4.4 million podcasts on its platform, 400,000 more than at the end of March.
According to the online music leader, the number of users listening to podcasts continues to grow, with “significant double-digit” year-on-year growth rates.
One billion users expected within ten years
In the third quarter, Spotify forecasts an operating loss of 218 million euros due to unfavorable exchange rates, as well as a total turnover of 3 billion euros. The platform is targeting 194 million paying subscribers by the end of the third quarter, with 450 million total users.
The good reception of the results on the stock market is good news for the audio platform, which had erased nearly two-thirds of its stock market value since the fall of 2021.
The boss and co-founder of Spotify, the Swede Daniel Ek, announced in early June that he was aiming for a turnover of 100 billion dollars within ten years, with one billion users.
(With AFP)
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