Shares Of Spotify Tumble

Shares of Spotify tumbled as much as 10 percent on Wednesday after the Swedish streaming giant warned that its strong pandemic growth is beginning to taper off, The NY Post reports.

While at-home streaming has boomed during the pandemic, Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek cautioned that uncertainty lies ahead as some of its established markets emerge from the pandemic, while some of its newer markets face volatility amid a resurgence of the coronavirus.

Price hikes in select markets may also be contributing to the slowdown Ek said.

The music streamer — which now has 2.6 million podcasts on its platform, including the massively popular “The Joe Rogan Experience” — said it expects paid subscribers in the range of 162 million to 166 million in the second quarter.

Analysts forecast it to hit 166.1 million.

During its first quarter ended March 31, Spotify reported 356 million total monthly subscribers, up 24 percent from a year ago but at the low-end of its guidance. The all-important paying subscribers ticked up 21 percent to 158 million, however, which was at the top-end of expectations.

Revenue rose 16 percent to $2.6 billion, beating forecasts of $2.59 billion.

Looking ahead, Spotify said it expects to reach at least 402 million monthly subscribers and at least 172 million paying subscribers by year’s end. It also forecast total revenue in a $2.61 billion to $2.85 billion range for the second quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $2.75 billion.