MMM: Spotify MAU And Premium Subscription Growth

Key Takeaways:

• Spotify saw a surge in MAU and premium subscriber growth in 4Q22, though it missed street estimates on EPS and revenue. Customer acquisition costs appear to be rising for Spotify as the company attributes its strong MAU and subscriber growth to its marketing push in Rest of World (primarily India and Indonesia), growth among Gen Z listeners, and the swell in user traffic upon the release of its 8th annual Spotify Wrapped for users

  • Per Sensor Tower estimates, worldwide MAUs on the Spotify mobile app in 4Q22 were up 7% QoQ (11% YoY) while reported MAUs and Premium Subscribers were up 7% QoQ (20% YoY) and 5% QoQ (14% YoY), respectively. MAUs in India and Indonesia on Spotify were each up 41% YoY as the company’s marketing push in the RoW region paid off

• Electronic Arts’ missed street estimates on EPS and revenue as its 2021 Glu Games acquisition weighed on results and likely prompted the sunsetting of Apex Legends Mobile and the cancellation of Battlefield Mobile (which was scheduled to launch later this year)

  • Per ST estimates, Glu’s portfolio of games (such as MLB Tap Baseball and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood) have experienced a significant decrease in consumer spend with 4Q22 net bookings of $11mn down 64% vs 2Q21 (when Glu was acquired)

  • Though Apex' results were undoubtedly affected by a broader decline in shooter popularity (with the overall category bookings down 25% YoY in 4Q22), Apex Mobile bookings significantly lagged top titles like Call of Duty Mobile with Apex bookings down 96% nearly 8 months post-launch vs +7% for Call of Duty Mobile

For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.