Spotify has reported another quarter of record profits, marking a year since it first raised the price of its Premium subscription plans.
The Swedish audio streaming service announced an operating income of 266 million euros ($289 million) for the second quarter, a stark contrast to a loss of 247 million euros ($268 million) during the same period last year. The number of monthly active users surged by 14% year-over-year, reaching 626 million.
CEO Daniel Ek expressed enthusiasm about the company’s performance, 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, the company announced a price increase for its Premium users in the U.S. Starting this month, individual plan users will see a $1 increase to $12, Duo plan users will pay $2 more totaling $17, and Family plan users will incur a $3 increase to $20. This change came after Spotify raised membership costs for the first time in 13 years by an average of $1 in July.
Despite the price hikes, Spotify gained seven million net subscribers in the quarter, exceeding its prior guidance by one million.
Spotify remains the leading audio streaming service globally, and a Bloomberg analysis indicates that its users are the least likely to cancel their subscriptions compared to those of other audio and video streaming platforms.
However, the company’s financial situation has not always been robust. Spotify’s stock value plummeted by more than 66% in 2022 due to several quarters of operational losses. In January 2023, the company announced a reduction of 600 jobs, followed by another cut of 1,500 jobs, which represented about 17% of its workforce, less than a year later.