Spotify (SPOT) is the world’s leading music streaming service, offering more than 100 million songs, 7 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks to 713 million monthly users, including 281 million paid subscribers. Its freemium model offers free listening with ads or ad-free Premium plans with offline downloads and high-quality audio. Features like custom playlists, AI DJ, social sharing and Spotify Wrapped keep users hooked, while artists get tools for promotion and earnings through streaming royalties.

Founded in 2006, the company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with operations in more than 180 countries.

Spotify shares have seen mixed results of late, falling 16% over the past five days, 27% over the past month, 32% over three months and 37% over six months. Year-to-date (YTD), it is down 28%, with 52-week returns at -32% while trading 47% off its 52-week high of $785. Despite short-term declines, two-year gains remain strong at 81%.

Against the Russell 1000 index, Spotify was a big short-term laggard; their losses significantly outpaced the index’s milder declines of 1.5% and 0.70%. Over 52 weeks, SPOT’s 32% drop followed the index’s 43% rise, reflecting sector-specific pressures amid broader market resistance.

Spotify delivered impressive Q3 2025 results on November 4, 2025. Revenue rose 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) to €4.3 billion (equivalent to $4.99 billion), beating analyst estimates of €4.23 billion. EPS came in at €3.28 ($3.84), beating forecasts of €1.97 ($1.87) by more than 66%, up from €1.54 last year.

Premium subscribers grew 12% to 281 million (meeting expectations), with monthly active users up 11% to 713 million (beating estimates of 710 million). Gross margin improved to 31.6% (up 56 bps), operating profit reached €582 million (€97 million above guidance) and free cash flow reached €806 million, showing strong cash generation.

For the fourth quarter, Spotify guided for revenue of 4.5 billion euros (down from estimates of 4.56 billion euros), premium subscribers for 289 million (down from 291 million) and monthly users for 745 million (up from 739.5 million). The outlook for operating income was €620 million, indicating a continued focus on profitability.

Spotify is also scheduled to release its fourth quarter results on February 10, 2026.

Spotify is diving into physical books through a partnership with Bookshop.org. Starting this spring, US and UK Premium subscribers will be able to purchase hardcover and paperback directly from the Spotify app.

Bookshop.org manages pricing, stock and shipping. Spotify acts as a referral hub, supporting independent bookstores, as Bookshop shares profits with local stores. That boosts small retailers as Spotify goes up against giants like Amazon ( AMZN ) and Barnes & Noble.

The move taps into growing demand for print books among young readers, fueled by TikTok’s BookTok trend. Viral videos drive sales of specific titles, making book shopping fun and social.

Barnes & Noble rode that wave, going from 600 stores at its peak to 721 by the end of 2025 after opening dozens each year. It plans 60 more by 2026. Spotify complements this with features like Page Match, which syncs print pages with audiobooks for seamless switching.

Despite the recent market decline, Spotify is still supported by analysts who have a consensus “Strong Buy” rating and an average price target of $733.26, reflecting a 75% upside to the market price.

SPOT’s stock has been analyzed by 36 market experts, with 24 rating it a “Strong Buy”, three a “Moderate Buy” and nine a “Hold”.

As of the date of publication, Ruchi Gupta had no positions (either directly or indirectly) in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is for informational purposes only. This article was originally published on Barchart.com