Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $525.34, but opened at $561.29. Spotify Technology shares last traded at $569.2410, with a volume of 1,022,722 shares traded.

Key Spotify Technology News

Here are the key news stories impacting Spotify Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Spotify reported 306 million premium subscribers in the third quarter, up 9% year over year and 1 million above its guidance. Monthly active users rose 11% to 788 million, with growth across all regions. Spotify Stock Jumps as Subscriber Growth Beats Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue increased roughly 16% year over year to about €4.97 billion, while gross margin expanded 140 basis points to 33% and operating income exceeded company guidance. Spotify expects fourth-quarter operating profit above Wall Street expectations and projects revenue of approximately €6.0 billion. Spotify forecasts fourth-quarter profit above estimates on AI bets
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted AI-powered personalization, including its “taste model,” as a way to increase listening, reduce churn and support pricing power. It also expects moderating expenses and continued margin expansion, with long-term targets of more than 20% operating margin and 35%–40% gross margin by 2030. Spotify Soars After Earnings as the Company Touts AI Benefits and Moderating Costs
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised their targets following the results. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan lifted targets to $700 with overweight ratings, while Wells Fargo, Barclays, Oppenheimer and Guggenheim also raised targets to $650–$660. Spotify Analysts Raise Their Forecasts Following Q3 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Spotify’s headline results were mixed: quarterly EPS of roughly $2.78–$2.85 missed consensus near $3.10–$3.18, while revenue was slightly below estimates. Piper Sandler maintained a neutral rating with a $580 target, and Cantor Fitzgerald maintained neutral at $550.
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen reaffirmed a hold rating with a $525 price target, and some newly raised targets remain below the current market valuation, signaling concerns that much of the subscriber and AI optimism may already be reflected in SPOT shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Spotify Technology from $680.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Spotify Technology in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Spotify Technology from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Spotify Technology from $565.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Spotify Technology from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $620.07.

Spotify Technology Stock Up 0.0%

The firm has a market cap of $120.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $526.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $497.87.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.13). Spotify Technology had a net margin of 15.74% and a return on equity of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.42) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Spotify Technology will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Spotify Technology

In other Spotify Technology news, CEO Alex Norström sold 5,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.10, for a total value of $2,729,415.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 66,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,526,723.30. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Gustav Söderström sold 20,913 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.19, for a total value of $11,380,645.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,897,404.75. The trade was a 51.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 68,092 shares of company stock worth $35,762,410 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Spotify Technology during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 423.1% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 68 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Spotify Technology by 39.7% in the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 81 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 84.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Spotify Technology Company Profile

Spotify Technology SA is an audio streaming company that operates the Spotify platform, offering users access to music, podcasts and audiobooks through internet-connected devices. Its catalog includes licensed recordings from music labels and artists, as well as podcasts and other audio content from creators and publishers.

Spotify provides both an ad-supported service and subscription-based Premium plans. Premium subscribers generally receive ad-free listening and additional features, while the advertising-supported service allows users to access content without a paid subscription.