Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) Shares Up 4.7% – Here’s What Happened

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) shot up 4.7% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $553.29 and last traded at $552.21. 589,330 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,344,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $527.25.

More Spotify Technology News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A bullish analysis argues that Spotify’s improving fundamentals and stock price well below last year’s peak could create substantial upside through 2030. The thesis highlights a potential disconnect between the company’s operating performance and its valuation, despite Spotify’s latest quarterly revenue rising 13.9% year over year. Prediction: Spotify Stock Could Be a Monster Winner by 2030
• Positive Sentiment: Spotify launched Premium Early Access in India, giving paying subscribers earlier access to releases from prominent artists including Badshah and Harrdy Sandhu. The initiative could improve premium-user engagement, strengthen Spotify’s position in India and support future monetization in a large growth market. Spotify launches Premium Early Access in India
• Neutral Sentiment: A discussion of Sweden’s startup ecosystem provides broader technology-sector context but does not announce a material change to Spotify’s operations, financial outlook or valuation. How Sweden built one of Europe’s hottest startup ecosystems
• Negative Sentiment: Spotify’s ad-skipping feature is raising questions about the company’s podcast strategy. Although it may improve the listener experience, easier avoidance of podcast ads could reduce advertising value or complicate revenue sharing for creators and Spotify. Spotify Ad-Skipping Feature Blurs Company Impact On Podcasting

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SPOT. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Spotify Technology from $510.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Spotify Technology from $735.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Spotify Technology from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Spotify Technology from $531.00 to $527.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Spotify Technology from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.05.

Spotify Technology Trading Up 4.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $112.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $493.67 and its 200-day moving average is $488.71.

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. Spotify Technology had a return on equity of 41.39% and a net margin of 18.44%.Spotify Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.42) EPS. Research analysts expect that Spotify Technology will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Alex Norstrom sold 5,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.10, for a total transaction of $2,729,415.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,526,723.30. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Gustav Soderstrom sold 20,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.52, for a total value of $10,344,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,117,091.52. This trade represents a 50.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 73,371 shares of company stock worth $36,222,251 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Spotify Technology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 645,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,672,000 after purchasing an additional 73,722 shares during the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Spotify Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,000. Sycale Advisors NY LLC grew its position in shares of Spotify Technology by 89.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycale Advisors NY LLC now owns 36,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,949,000 after buying an additional 17,050 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 18,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,769,000 after buying an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Finally, Ally Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Spotify Technology by 100.0% in the second quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.09% of the company’s stock.

About Spotify Technology

Spotify Technology is a digital audio streaming company best known for its on-demand music service and a growing portfolio of spoken-word content. Founded in Sweden in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and launched commercially in 2008, the company offers a cross-platform app that enables users to discover, stream and organize music, podcasts and other audio. Its primary consumer products include a free, ad-supported tier and a paid Spotify Premium subscription that provides ad-free listening, offline playback and higher-quality audio streams.