Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOT) Earnings
Spotify Technology S.A. is expected to report next earnings on July 28, 2026 (in NaN days), with a consensus EPS estimate of $3.31. SPOT has beaten EPS estimates in 5 of its last 12 reported quarters (average surprise -21.4% over the last four).
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2026 | $3.41 | $4.04 | +18.5% | $5.2B | +0.2% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $2.30 | $-0.48 | -120.9% | $4.9B | -1.6% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | $2.06 | $1.88 | -8.7% | $4.4B | +2.2% |
| Jul 23, 2024 | $1.06 | $1.33 | +25.5% | $4.1B | -0.1% |
| Jul 25, 2023 | $-0.63 | $-1.55 | -146.0% | $3.5B | -2.8% |
| Jan 31, 2023 | $-1.28 | $-1.43 | -11.7% | $3.2B | -6.9% |
| Jul 27, 2022 | $-0.68 | $-0.91 | -33.8% | $3.0B | +1.6% |
| Apr 27, 2022 | $-0.26 | $0.24 | +192.3% | $2.9B | +1.7% |
| Feb 2, 2022 | $-0.42 | $-0.21 | +50.0% | $3.0B | +1.0% |
| Jul 28, 2021 | $-0.52 | $-0.23 | +55.8% | $2.8B | +13.0% |
| Feb 3, 2021 | $-0.55 | $-0.66 | -20.0% | $2.7B | +53.3% |
| Oct 29, 2020 | $-0.56 | $-0.58 | -3.6% | $2.3B | +21.8% |
Source: company filings + earnings calendar. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Earnings call summary
Q1 FY2026 · April 28, 2026
AI summary of management’s prepared remarks and analyst Q&A. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Management highlights
2026 is off to a strong start with solid execution, healthy growth, and positive engagement trends. Surpassed 760 million MAU, netted second highest gross margin ever. Celebrating 20 years, forged strong relationships with industry partners. Introduced Song DNA and About the Song. Took Bad Bunny's concert to Tokyo and broadcast it. Discussed retention driven by more days in a month, more devices or contexts, and more content types or verticals. Launched fitness hub on Spotify featuring Peloton's premium subscriber content. Rebuilt ad stack end-to-end, biddable represents more than a third of ad revenue and growing quickly. AI integration across every part of Spotify, with features like DJ, Taste Profile in beta, Promptly Playlist expanded. Interactive features like Jam, blend, messaging, mixing, wrap party showing growth.
Guidance
Forecasts MAU of 778 million for quarter two, an increase of 17 million from quarter one. Subscribers forecasted at 299 million for quarter two, a net addition of 6 million. Total revenue forecasted at approximately €4.8 billion in Q2, 15% growth. Anticipates Q2 gross margin of 33.1%, approximately 160 basis points above prior year. Guides to $630 million in operating income for quarter two. Expect operating expenses to remain at current levels for next quarter or two. Continue to expect both gross margin and operating margin to improve in 2026 on a full-year basis, with quarterly progression variable. Expect meaningful year-over-year growth in free cash flow in 2026.
Segment performance
MEU grew by 10 million to 761 million in total, surpassing guidance by 2 million. Growth rate accelerated 12% year-over-year. Added 3 million net subscribers during the quarter, finishing at 293 million. Total revenue was 4.5 billion euro, growing 14% year-over-year. Premium revenue rose approximately 15% year over year driven by subscriber growth and ARPA expansion of 5.7% year over year. Ad-supported revenue grew approximately 3% year over year. New automated sales channel now represents over 30% of ad-supported revenue. Gross margin came in at 33%, surpassing guidance by approximately 20 basis points, with a year-over-year expansion of approximately 133 basis points. Other operating income was 750 million, 55 million above guidance. Free cash flow was $824 million in the quarter.
Analyst Q&A
Q: Jessica Reef-Ehrlich on operating expenses.
A: Spent more on OPEX, not increased headcount, spending more compute per employee for productivity.
Q: Rich Greenfield on ads business.
A: Ad business has sturdy progress, transition from old stack to new stack, gap to monetization will close.
Q: Benjamin Black on gross margin.
A: Strong premium gross margin due to healthy core, gross margin guide for Q2, disciplined in reinvestments.
Q: Doug Anmuth on AI products.
A: Progress on AI products, opportunity with existing creators and derivatives of existing music, hurdles with copyright and attribution.
Q: Justin Patterson on productivity.
A: Approaching productivity by keeping headcount flat, doing more, measuring by usage and retention.
Q: Deepak Madhavanan on ubiquity strategy.
A: Spotify integrated with AI applications, seeing advanced usage, training in-house models.
Q: Eric Sheridan on operating expenses.
A: Key platform and product initiatives driving OPEX, operating margin will improve year over year.
Q: Justin Patterson on new free tier.
A: Judging free tier by active days in a month, seeing increase in active days, ARPA expansion tools include audiobooks and top-ups.
Q: Rich Greenfield on fitness.
A: Fitness hub partnership, connecting fitness creators and users, investing in fitness content.
Q: Jessica Reef Ehrlich on ARPU.
A: No surprises in subscriber reaction to price increase, ARPU expansion through engagement and verticals.
Q: Stephen Cahal on AI music.
A: Spotify believes in opportunity for existing artists, addressing problem of copyright and attribution.
Q: Benjamin Black on fitness.
A: Strategic rationale of partnership, similar to audiobooks in monetization.
Q: Maria Rips on advertising.
A: Engagement among ad-supported users will translate to gross margin tailwinds with new ad stack.
Q: Doug Ameth on tiering.
A: Early learnings of tiering show structural increase in ARPU, too early for specifics.
Q: Sean Diffley on conversion.
A: Free-to-paid subs conversion related to engagement, marketing spend spread among features.
Q: William Packer on AI.
A: Key moats include 20 years of listening history, taste not easily commoditized, training proprietary models.