Spotify reported earnings today that will be music to investors’ ears, with total revenue having grown 16% year-over-year. In return, the Swedish audio streaming behemoth saw its shares jump nearly 10% to $245.12 this morning. It’s the largest increase the company has seen since October.
The positive earnings is a sign that Spotify’s work last year to cut costs and become more profitable is paying off. In December, it laid off approximately 1,500 employees and significantly scaled back its investment in podcasts. Meanwhile, people keep signing up for the service. Monthly Active Users (MAU) grew 23% while Premium subscribers grew 15% up to 236 million – one million more than was predicted.
For the ninth year, Spotify ran it’s “Wrapped” campaign, which allowed users to see and share (and maybe feel a little shame about) the music and podcasts they had listened to the most over the year. “Wrapped” grew by 40% across 170 markets, including five new markets Spotify opened in 2023.
For Q1 2024, Spotify predicts 618 million active users, with 239 million of them premium subscribers, which is roughly in line with outside estimates, according to Bloomberg.