Spotify Reports 207M Users, 97M Paid, Strong Q4 Financials

[UPDATE 2] Spotify announced that it now had 207 million active monthly users, as part of a quarterly financial report released on Wednesday morning. Spotify outperformed analysts financial expectations, notching its first every quarterly operating profit.

User growth came primarily as a result of improved retention relative to forecast. Latin America and other emerging regions continued to deliver strong growth.  The streamer reported 97 million Premium paid users at the end of 2018.

During Q4 Spotify expanded to 78 countries from 65 as they launched service in 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa in mid-November. 

First Quarterly Profit

For the first time in company history Operating Income, Net Income, and Free Cash Flow were all positive, even as sales fell short of analyst expectations.

Operating expenses of $348 million in Q4 were down 17% Y/Y, resulting in an Operating Profit of $27.3 million. This is Spotify’s first ever quarterly Operating Profit.

Total Q4 revenue was $1,702 million, up 30% of the previous ear . Foreign exchange rates negatively impacted Spotify's Premium segment and positively impacted Ad-Supported segment yielding minimal impact on our consolidated results.

Spotify's profit outlook should shift with today's acquisition of two major podcasters Gimlet Media and Anchor. 

Read the full financial report here.

MORE: Spotify Acquires Podcasters Gimlet, Anchor To Create 'Audio-First' Streaming Service