Shares of Spotify declined Wednesday after the company reported its first-quarter 2022 earnings. The stock closed down more than 12% amid a tough earnings season for tech stocks.
Spotify has heavily invested in podcasting and is trying to become ad-driven, arguing that ad-supported revenue came in at 282 million euros. That made up 11% of its total revenue, which the firm said was its largest first-quarter ever for the segment. However, Spotify missed analyst expectations of 304.1 million euros in ad-supported revenue, according to FactSet.
Spotify ended up with 182 million paid subscribers, which is 15% higher year over year but still below the forecast of 183 million. The company said halting business in Russia resulted in a 1.5 million subscribers loss. Revenue from subscriptions grew to 2.38 billion euros, up 23% year over year.
Spotify reached 422 million monthly active users, in its first quarter, up 19% year over year and exceeding its own guidance by 4 million. It also beat analyst expectations, according to a FactSet consensus.
