Spotify (SPOT) is set to report its fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday before the bell as the music streaming platform continues to focus on profitability amid changes to its podcasting strategy.
In the third quarter, Spotify turned a profit for the first time in over a year as its recent price hikes coupled with lower-than-expected costs related to personnel and marketing spend boosted its bottom line.
The company also committed to lower podcast investments, which helped boost margins to 26% in the quarter. Spotify guided to more margin improvements in Q4 with the metric expected to come in at 26.6%.
The company has previously said it expects the metric to come in between 30% and 35% over the long term amid plans to further scale its podcasting and ads business. With the exception of Q3, margins have been stuck between 21% and 25% in recent quarters.
Outside of margins, subscriber numbers are expected to once again surge with a gain of around 28 million monthly active users in the quarter, including 9 million premium subscribers, according to analysts.
Spotify had guided to 27 million monthly active user additions but matched Wall Street’s expectations of 9 million premium subs.
Here’s what Wall Street expects, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates:
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Revenue: 3.72 billion euros
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Adjusted loss per share: -0.31 euros
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Total monthly active users (MUAs): 602 million
Overall, analysts have been bullish on Spotify after the audio giant pledged to improve its profitability beginning in 2023 on a gross margin and operating income basis.
Spotify spent $1 billion pushing into the podcast market over the past four years with splashy A-list deals and $400 million-plus studio acquisitions.
That spending took a significant bite out of gross margins and weighed heavily on profitability. In response, Spotify committed to several rounds of layoffs — three in 2023 alone. The company also announced CFO Paul Vogel will step down from his position on March 31.
In addition to layoffs, Spotify raised prices, changed up its royalty structure, and made audiobooks free to paying subscribers.
But more changes are expected as Spotify further revamps its podcast strategy to focus more on distribution rather than exclusivity.
Late last week, Spotify announced a new deal with its most popular podcaster: Joe Rogan.
The company revealed Rogan’s podcast, which was previously exclusive to Spotify, will be available on additional services like Apple Podcasts (AAPL), Amazon Music (AMZN), and YouTube (GOOGL) for the first time in years.
The multiyear deal, which the Wall Street Journal pegged at $250 million, represents Spotify’s broader podcast distribution push, which it first began to roll out last year.
Under the new agreement, Spotify will handle distribution and ad sales as it works to maximize revenue. Rogan, meanwhile, will receive a guaranteed minimum rate and cut of the advertising revenue.
The company recently renegotiated a similar contract with “Call Her Daddy”‘s Alexandra Cooper.
The podcast, which Spotify purchased for a reported $60 million in 2021, will now be available on all major audio platforms after more than two years as a Spotify exclusive. The company will maintain the exclusive rights to the podcast’s video portion.
Spotify shares have surged about 80% over the past year and are up more than 15% year to date. The stock is still off about 40% from its record high of $364.59 a share in February 2021.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated Spotify’s monthly active users growth. We regret the error.
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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