Spotify has announced another quarter of record profits, just one year after the company implemented its first-ever price increase for Premium plans.
The Swedish audio streaming platform reported an operating income of 266 million euros ($289 million) for the second quarter, a notable turnaround from a loss of 247 million euros ($268 million) during the same period last year. Monthly active users surged by 14% year-over-year, reaching a total of 626 million.
“It’s an exciting time at Spotify. We keep on innovating and demonstrating that we are not just a great product, but increasingly also a great business,” said CEO Daniel Ek in a statement. “Our progress has exceeded even our own expectations. This is promising for our future.”
Following the positive earnings report, Spotify’s stock saw a significant increase of nearly 14% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.
In June, Spotify announced a price hike for its Premium users in the U.S. Starting this month, individual plans now cost $12, up by $1; Duo plans (for two users) increased by $2 to $17; and Family plans rose by $3 to $20. This marked the first increase in membership prices in 13 years, following an average raise of $1 last July.
Despite the price adjustments, Spotify added seven million net subscribers in the quarter, surpassing its previous guidance by one million.
Spotify remains the leading audio streaming service globally, and a Bloomberg analysis indicated that its users are the least likely among audio or video streaming platforms to cancel their subscriptions.
However, the company’s financial landscape has not always been optimistic. In 2022, Spotify’s stock plummeted by more than two-thirds as it struggled with multiple quarters of operating losses. In January 2023, Spotify announced layoffs of 600 employees, and less than a year later, it cut an additional 1,500 jobs, representing approximately 17% of its workforce.