Spotify reports €4.8 billion Q2 revenue

Spotify reported €4.78 billion in second-quarter revenue, €655 million in operating income and a record 33.4% gross margin in results released August 4, while saying it had reached 300 million Premium subscribers. The company said monthly active users rose to 777 million, including 494 million ad-supported users. (newsroom.spotify.com) Shares closed at $482.23 on August 5, after opening at $488.57, according to Spotify’s investor site. The figures gave Spotify another subscriber milestone, but the market reaction centered on guidance. Reuters reported the company projected third-quarter monthly active users below Wall Street estimates and said higher marketing and development costs tied to AI features would weigh on profit. (investors.spotify.com) Benzinga separately reported analysts lowered price targets after the results and weaker active-user guidance. ### How strong was the quarter on the headline numbers? Spotify said Premium subscribers rose to 300 million in the quarter, the first time the service has reached that level. (newsroom.spotify.com) Revenue increased to €4.78 billion, while operating income came in at €655 million and gross margin reached 33.4%, which the company described as an all-time record. Monthly active users reached 777 million, up 12% year over year, and ad-supported MAUs rose to 494 million, according to the company’s earnings materials. Premium average revenue per user increased 7% to €4.89, driven by prior price increases and partly offset by product and geographic mix, according to coverage of the filing. (thestar.com.my) ### Why did the stock reaction focus on guidance instead? Reuters reported on August 4 that Spotify forecast third-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as marketing and development costs rose. The report said the company was spending more on AI-powered features and pointed to slower user growth in North America and Europe. (newsroom.spotify.com) Benzinga reported that Spotify’s second-quarter results came in below expectations and that management issued weak third-quarter guidance for active users, prompting analysts to reduce price targets. Another Benzinga report said Spotify expected monthly active user growth to slow as it adjusted its free-tier strategy in emerging markets. (investors.spotify.com) ### What is Spotify saying about slower MAU growth? Spotify executives said product changes in emerging markets were part of a monetization push rather than a pure user-growth push, according to Reuters and Benzinga. (thestar.com.my) Reuters said the company linked weaker third-quarter MAU guidance to product changes in countries including India and Indonesia that could help it raise prices. Benzinga said management was prioritizing long-term monetization and paid conversion over faster free-tier user growth. Alex Norström, Spotify’s co-CEO, said in the company’s earnings release that Spotify had “a scale that few companies in history have reached” and described the business as “healthy and compounding.” The company’s release also said revenue growth accelerated in the quarter as it continued to add features for listeners, artists and creators. (benzinga.com) ### Where did the shares end up after the report? Spotify’s investor relations page showed the stock closed at $482.23 on August 5, up 0.85% on the day, after a previous close of $478.17. Earlier press reports described an initial selloff after earnings, including Reuters’ report of shares falling around 5% and other outlets citing premarket weakness. (thestar.com.my) The difference reflects timing. The earnings were released on August 4, and intraday trading moved after the initial reaction. Spotify’s own stock page lists August 5 pricing as the latest published close. (newsroom.spotify.com) ### What should readers watch next in Spotify’s filings? Spotify’s investor site lists the Q2 2026 earnings call webcast and shareholder deck as the company’s primary materials for the quarter. The financials page also shows a Form 6-K filed on August 4. Those materials are where Spotify has published its quarterly metrics, guidance and management commentary, and they are the company’s next reference point for any follow-up on subscriber growth, ad-supported monetization and third-quarter targets. (investors.spotify.com 1) (investors.spotify.com 2) (investors.spotify.com 3)