Warrants, certificates and related products for short and medium term oriented traders. By Wolfgang Hagl
BÖRSE ONLINE has its finger on the pulse: the “Payday” podcast was launched at the beginning of September. Our moderator and deputy editor-in-chief Lars Winter discusses promising stocks with colleagues. The 14-day programs can be accessed on, among other things Spotify. The world’s leading streaming portal relies fully on this modern information tool in audio format: At the end of September, the Swedish program comprised 3.2 million podcasts.
With this thematic expansion of the portal, which has long focused on music of all kinds, the industry leader is aiming in two directions: On the one hand, users who are primarily interested in news and current entertainment are to be addressed. On the other hand, the podcasts offer an interesting stage for advertisers. In the third quarter, this strategy worked perfectly: Spotify attracted many new listeners and at the same time posted a sharp increase in advertising revenue. Specifically, the number of monthly active users from July to September was 381 million, 19 percent above the level of the same period last year. Spotify recorded an identical rate of growth among premium subscribers. 172 million customers pay for ad-free access to the program. They contributed 87 percent to sales of 2.5 billion euros. For the much smaller segment of advertising income, Spotify reported a strong disproportionate growth of three quarters. CEO Daniel Ek sees a direct connection here with the podcast offensive. He wants to take advantage of the momentum and hire hundreds of new employees in this area. Expansion costs money. After being in the black in the reporting period, Ek expects an operating loss for the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, he again promises strong growth in user numbers and sales.
Speculative rebound bet
With the interim report, Spotify hit the right note. The Scandinavians were able to dispel doubts about the company’s growth potential and resilience to competitive pressures. In line with this, the share has turned upwards. With an Open End Turbo Bull, brave investors can count on the race to continue. The paper participates in rising prices with a leverage of 4.5. Attention: Should minor tones arise at Spotify and the share come under pressure, there is a risk of disproportionate losses.
