Spotify gave investors a first quarter with stronger users, higher margins, and record operating income, yet Wall Street found a reason to look past the headline numbers. The music-streaming company’s latest report showed that more people are using Spotify more often, while its second-quarter outlook raised questions about how much it will cost to keep that engagement moving higher.
The concern centers on a key part of Spotify’s growth story. Management said engagement is improving across its platform, including among free users, yet higher engagement in the ad-supported business added content costs faster than revenue could offset them during the quarter. That gave investors a new issue to watch as Spotify spends more on artificial intelligence, product features, and marketing in 2026.
Spotify’s first quarter was stronger than expected
Spotify reported 761 million monthly active users in the first quarter, up 12% from a year earlier, and Premium subscribers rose 9% to 293 million. Revenue increased 8% to €4.53 billion, or 14% on a constant-currency basis, while gross margin expanded to 33%. Operating income reached €715 million, above the company’s prior guidance of €660 million.
Those results gave Spotify a solid start to what management has called its “Year of Raising Ambition.” The company said all key performance indicators met or exceeded guidance, with monthly active users beating its target by 2 million and subscriber additions landing in line with expectations. Spotify also generated €824 million in free cash flow during the quarter, bringing trailing 12-month free cash flow to €3.2 billion.
Reuters reported that Spotify shares fell after the company forecast second-quarter operating income of €630 million, below the €684 million average analyst estimate compiled by LSEG. The company’s forecast for Premium subscribers to reach 299 million also came in below estimates of 302 million, even as its monthly active user outlook of 778 million topped expectations.
Spotify points to stronger customer engagement
Spotify’s management did not frame the quarter as a demand problem. CFO Christian Luiga said on the earnings call that the company saw “no surprises” tied to churn after its January U.S. price increase, and Premium revenue grew about 15% on a constant-currency basis as subscriber growth and higher average revenue per user helped results.
Co-CEO Alex Norström pointed to customer behavior as a reason for confidence. He said users in key markets such as the U.S. are now listening and watching more days per month following the global rollout of Spotify’s more personalized free experience. He also said Spotify tracks retention through more days in a month, more devices and contexts, and more content types or verticals.
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That engagement is important because Spotify views the free tier as a long-term funnel into paid subscriptions. Norström said the improved free tier has led to a “step change” in active days per month, which he said should eventually support subscriber conversion and lifetime value.
Higher usage brings a cost problem
The pressure point is that customer engagement can become expensive before it becomes more profitable. Spotify said ad-supported gross margin fell year over year because music costs and other cost-of-revenue items tied to higher engagement more than offset podcast favorability.
Luiga addressed the issue directly on the call, saying higher engagement among ad-supported users drove more content costs than top-line income in the quarter. He described the dynamic as short-term and said the company expects monetization to improve in future quarters, but the comment gave investors an explanation for why strong usage can still create margin pressure.
Spotify is also spending behind new features that are designed to deepen user engagement. During the quarter, the company highlighted AI-powered personalization tools, including Taste Profile and Prompted Playlist, along with music-insight features such as SongDNA and About the Song.
Wall Street watches the profit outlook
Spotify’s second-quarter guidance explains why the market focused on caution rather than celebration. The company expects 778 million monthly active users, 299 million Premium subscribers, €4.8 billion in revenue, 33.1% gross margin and €630 million in operating income.
Reuters reported that Co-CEO Gustav Söderström said Spotify is investing in new features, marketing, and computing power for artificial intelligence instead of growing its workforce. Luiga also said the company plans to ship “a lot of features” around the middle of the year, which is expected to lift operating expenses over the next couple of quarters.
The company has built a larger user base, improved margins, and expanded its product beyond music, but the next test is whether it can turn deeper engagement into faster monetization. For now, Spotify’s users are spending more time on the platform, and Wall Street is watching how much Spotify has to spend to keep them there.
Related: Spotify CEO shatters expectations with bold new AI pivot
