Audio streaming giant Spotify posted a second-quarter revenue gain and ended June with 300 million paying premium subscribers, up from 293 million as of the end of March and slightly above the forecast 299 million, “reflecting … year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth across all regions.” The company described this as “a milestone no audio streaming service has ever reached.”
Monthly active users (MAUs) grew to 777 million, slightly below the projected 778 million, from 761 million in the previous quarter.
Revenue growth for the quarter accelerated to come in at 14 percent, or 15 percent on a constant currency basis, to get the company to €4.8 billion ($5.5 billion), in line with its forecast. Operating income hit €655 million ($754 million) in the second quarter, exceeding management guidance and up 61 percent from the year-ago period despite a 3 percent increase in operating expenses, “driven by temporary investments in marketing and cloud/AI spend.”
Profitability has been in the investor spotlight after price increases and cost cuts. Spotify shares dropped more than 4 percent in pre-market trading.
“We have a scale that few companies in history have reached, a business that is healthy and compounding, and opportunities only we are positioned to pursue,” said co-CEO Alex Norström. “Spotify lives across your whole day — the commute, the workout, studying, gaming, the dinner table, and sleep. At our scale, that is rare… Our position gives us an opportunity space as wide as our users want it to be.”
Added co-CEO Gustav Söderström: “Investor Day described where we believe Spotify is going in the future. This quarter demonstrated that we are already building that future: better engineering, faster shipping, new products and new ways for users to engage. We are still in the very early stages of what is possible and will continue to have a high bar for investments.” He concluded: “Our job remains the same: understand the technology early and deeply, and turn it into something people love. Creating value for our stakeholders.”
For the third quarter, Spotify predicted 305 million premium subs and 788 million MAUs, as well as operating income of €670 million and revenue of €5 billion.
“Our business performed well in the second quarter, led by strength in subscribers and profitability,” Spotify said. “Overall, we view the business as well positioned to deliver improved growth and margins in 2026 as we reinvest to support our long-term potential.”
