Spotify has announced another record profit quarter, marking a year since it implemented its first price increase for Premium plans.
The Swedish audio streaming service reported an operating income of 266 million euros ($289 million) for the second quarter, a notable improvement from a loss of 247 million euros ($268 million) during the same period last year. The platform also saw a 14% annual growth in monthly active users, reaching 626 million.
CEO Daniel Ek expressed his excitement for the company’s progress, stating, “It’s an exciting time at Spotify. We keep on innovating and showing that we aren’t just a great product, but increasingly also a great business. We are doing so on a timeline that has exceeded even our own expectations. This all bodes very well for the future.”
Following the positive earnings report, Spotify’s stock rose nearly 14% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.
In June, Spotify announced a price increase for its Premium users in the U.S. Effective this month, individual plan users will pay $1 more, bringing the total to $12, while Duo plan users will see a $2 increase to $17, and Family plan users will pay $3 more, totaling $20. This marked the first membership cost increase in 13 years, averaging $1 across plans.
Despite the price hikes, Spotify successfully added seven million net subscribers during the quarter, surpassing its previous guidance by one million.
As the world’s leading audio streaming platform, Spotify users are reportedly the least inclined to cancel their subscriptions compared to those of other audio or video streaming services, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
However, the company has not always experienced financial success. In 2022, Spotify’s stock dropped by more than two-thirds as it dealt with consecutive quarters of operating losses. Earlier this year, it announced the reduction of 600 positions, followed by a later cut of 1,500 jobs, which represented around 17% of its workforce.