And here is the company report, Christoffer style ![]()
Spotify’s Q1 results were in line with our expectations, showing that operational momentum continues. However, the Q2 guidance was mixed. Although gross margin and user metrics (MAU) slightly exceeded our expectations, the operating profit guidance was weak and below our forecasts, reflecting an increase in operating expenses related to elevated marketing, cloud, and AI investments. Crucially, however, management stated that these elevated investment levels are expected to continue for only the next one or two quarters before moderating, while reiterating that the full-year operating margin will still grow y/y. As such, we consider the impact to be temporary rather than structural, leaving our medium-term thesis intact. In our view, the post-earnings market reaction therefore appears excessive and overly short-sighted, creating an attractive opportunity for long-term investors to capitalize on short-term noise at attractive valuation multiples. We are upgrading our recommendation to Buy (prev. Accumulate) while lowering our target price to $570 (prev. $595) due to lowered forecasts.