Spotify (SPOT) Q3 2026 Earnings

No. Spotify reported Q3 2026 earnings of $2.78 a share on Oct 22, 2026, missing the $2.85 consensus estimate by 2.2%. Revenue was $5.6B against a $5.0B estimate.

Spotify Technology posted a mixed third quarter for 2026, delivering a powerful revenue beat while falling just short on the bottom line, a combination that underscores the growing cost of the company's ambitions. Revenue of $5.57 billion climbed 16.3% year over year, clearing the $4.98 billion consensus by nearly 12%, as Premium segment sales of $5.03 billion grew 17% and monthly active users reached 788 million. GAAP earnings per share came in at $2.78, missing the $2.85 consensus by 2.25%, and ending a four-quarter streak of EPS beats. The earnings shortfall traces largely to a surge in research and development spending, which jumped 35% to $467.81 million driven by cloud infrastructure and AI costs, and to a 26.5% effective tax rate that included a $38.14 million increase in uncertain tax provisions. Net income fell to $581.12 million from $1.01 billion a year ago, a comparison complicated by one-time gains in the prior period. Analysts had flagged ahead of the print that balancing AI investment against margin improvement would be Spotify's central challenge, and Q3 results made that tension plain.