Overview
- Spotify reported on Thursday, Oct. 22 that third-quarter revenue rose 16% to €5.0 billion, Premium subscribers reached 306 million, monthly active users hit 788 million, gross margin improved to 33.0%, and operating income was €672 million.
- The company gave above‑Street Q4 guidance for 316 million Premium subscribers, 818 million MAUs, €5.2 billion in revenue and €820 million in operating income, a forecast that pushed the stock sharply higher.
- Spotify said it will expand audiobooks from 22 markets to more than 180 by year‑end and has launched Creator Memberships in 34 markets plus an expanded Partner Program to give more creators ways to earn on the platform.
- Management framed AI as a growth tailwind, noting integrations such as Meta’s Muse and reported licensing deals with Believe, Universal, Merlin and Kobalt to enable paid remix and other AI features while acknowledging higher near‑term cloud and marketing costs.
- Ad-supported revenue and automated ad sales grew, margins beat guidance due to lower-than-forecast marketing and personnel costs, and executives argue the mix of subscriptions, ads, content expansion and AI tools will diversify Spotify’s revenue beyond music streaming.