In a nutshell: Spotify for the second quarter of 2021 turned in results that were better than expected in most major categories including subscriber growth, revenue, gross margin and operating income. The one exception was monthly active users (MAUs), where the streaming giant fell short of its guidance range.
For the three-month period ending June 30, 2021, Spotify generated revenue of 2.33 billion euro ($2.75 billion), gross margin of 28.4 percent and an operating income of $14.14 million.
Spotify finished the quarter with 365 million total MAUs. That’s an increase of nine million users compared to the previous quarter but more importantly, seven million of those are premium (paying) subscribers. In total, Spotify now has 165 million premium subscribers and 210 million ad-supported users.
The Swedish streaming service said its licensing deal for The Joe Rogan Experience podcast continues to perform above expectations. Terms of that agreement were not made public but according to rumors, it was valued north of $100 million.
All said and done, Spotify came away with a loss of $20 million euro ($23.57 million).
Looking ahead to the third quarter, the streaming specialist is expecting to finish with 377 million to 382 million total MAUs and anywhere between 170 million and 174 million total premium subscribers.
Spotify shares are down more than nine percent on the news and are currently trading at $215.79.
https://www.techspot.com/news/90583-spotify-added-nine-million-subscribers-q2-most-paying.html
