Spotify shares climbed 10% on Tuesday after the music streaming company recorded its first full year of profitability, closing the fiscal year with 1.14 billion euros in net income.
Here are the numbers from its fourth-quarter earnings report, compared with analyst expectations:
- Revenue: 4.24 billion euros vs. 4.19 billion euros expected by analysts polled by LSEG
- Earnings per share: 1.76 euros vs.1.99 euros expected by analysts polled by LSEG
- MAUs (monthly active users): 675 million vs. 664.3 million expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount
The Luxembourg-based company reported a 40% growth year over year for gross profit, rising 10% from the previous quarter. Operating income came in at 477 million euros, slightly below guidance.
The company said it paid a record $10 billion in royalties to the music industry in 2024, growth that’s likely to continue with the streamer’s new multiyear publishing agreement with Universal Music Group announced in January.
The deal will include new paid subscription tiers, bundles for music and nonmusic content and a direct license between the two companies for Spotify in the U.S. and other countries.
Spotify Wrapped continued to be one of the biggest user engagement drivers of the year, with the annual December listening analysis helping deliver year-over-year growth.
The company said its 35 million net growth of MAUs was a fourth-quarter record. MAUs were up 5% since last quarter and 12% for the year.
Spotify reported net income of 367 million euros in the fourth quarter, or $1.81 per share, an improvement from the previous quarter and well above the net loss of 70 million euros from the year-ago quarter, a loss of 36 cents per share.
Fourth-quarter revenue of 4.24 billion euros was well above the 3.67 billion in revenue from the same quarter a year ago.
First-quarter guidance estimates the company will have 678 million MAUs, a net add of 3 million, with two-thirds expected to be premium paid subscribers. Total revenue is estimated at 4.2 billion euros, outperforming LSEG-surveyed analysts’ expectations at 4.17 billion.
Spotify stock is up more than 20% year to date.