Spotify Technology S.A.

Spotify Technology posted a mixed first quarter for 2025, delivering solid top-line growth while falling well short of profit expectations as non-cash financial charges weighed heavily on the bottom line. The streaming giant reported earnings per share of $1.07, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by 54.02%, even as revenue climbed 15.2% year-over-year to $4.19 billion, just a hair below the $4.20 billion analysts had forecast. The primary culprit behind the EPS shortfall was a surge in finance costs to $252 million, driven by $180 million in fair value losses on Spotify's exchangeable notes and $58 million in foreign exchange losses, which compressed net income despite a notably stronger operating performance. On the operational side, the story was considerably brighter: gross margin expanded to 32% from 28% a year ago, operating income tripled to $509 million, and free cash flow more than doubled to $534 million, supported by Premium Subscriber growth of 12% to 268 million and monthly active users reaching 678 million.