Spotify Stock Jumps Above $600 After EGM and Music‑Video Push: What SPOT Investors Should Know Before the December 11, 2025 Open

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) spent Wednesday acting more like a momentum tech darling than a sleepy subscription service.

On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Spotify shares climbed to just over $609 at the close, up about 3.3% on the day, marking five straight sessions of gains and a roughly 4% rise over the past two weeks. ^[1] After hours, the stock eased slightly to around $607, trimming only a sliver of that rally. ^[2]

Heading into the Thursday, December 11 open, SPOT sits near the psychologically important $600 level, with investors juggling three big narratives:

• A beta rollout of music videos in the U.S. and Canada
• A board shake‑up tied to the upcoming co‑CEO transition
• Growing chatter about another U.S. subscription price hike in early 2026

Here’s a deep dive into what happened after the bell on December 10 – and what’s most important to know before trading starts today.

1. How Spotify Stock Traded on December 10, 2025

By the closing bell on Wednesday, SPOT looked like a textbook “good news + macro tailwind” trade.

• Regular session: Spotify closed at about $609.41, up 3.35% from Tuesday’s $589.67 close. Intraday, the stock traded between roughly $585 and $610 on volume just under 3 million shares. ^[3]
• After hours: By around 7:30 p.m. EST, shares ticked down to roughly $607.38, a 0.3% pullback from the close, suggesting profit‑taking rather than panic. ^[4]
• Streak: Wednesday marked five consecutive up days and gains in seven of the last ten sessions, with the stock up about 4% over that two‑week stretch. ^[5]
• Bigger picture: Around current levels, SPOT is roughly one‑third above its 52‑week low (~$443) and still about 25% below its 52‑week high (~$785). ^[6]

Market cap math: with a share count around 206 million, Spotify’s value now sits near $120–122 billion. ^[7]

And the backdrop matters: U.S. equities broadly rallied on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, pushing yields and the dollar lower – exactly the kind of macro environment that tends to support long‑duration, high‑growth names like SPOT. ^[8]

2. Why SPOT Rallied: Three Big Storylines Driving the Move

2.1 Music videos arrive in the U.S. and Canada

The flashiest catalyst isn’t in the income statement yet; it’s in the app.

On December 9, Spotify announced that music videos are now rolling out in beta to Premium users in the U.S. and Canada, following a pilot last year across nearly 100 other markets. ^[9]

Key points from Spotify’s own release and follow‑up coverage:

• Premium users can tap “Switch to video” to jump from an audio track to the official music video and back. ^[10]
• The initial catalog is limited but features big names like Ariana Grande, Olivia Dean, BABYMONSTER, Addison Rae and others. ^[11]
• Spotify’s internal data suggests that when users see a music video, they’re more likely to replay, save, or share the track, boosting engagement. ^[12]

Reuters summed it up bluntly: this is a direct shot at YouTube, and shares were up nearly 4% in afternoon trading on the day of the expansion. ^[13]

For investors, the music‑video push matters because:

• It deepens engagement (more time in‑app = more value to advertisers and lower churn).
• It strengthens Spotify’s position as a full‑funnel media platform (music, podcasts, audiobooks, and now proper video).
• It provides more justification for higher pricing tiers down the line.

That last bit is important when you remember what’s coming in 2026.

2.2 Board expansion and the coming co‑CEO era

While users were busy replaying videos, shareholders were busy voting.

On December 10, Spotify held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Luxembourg to expand its board. Shareholders approved the election of Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström as directors effective January 1, 2026. ^[14]

That’s not just a routine governance footnote. It’s the formal prelude to a leadership handoff that was announced in late September:

• Founder‑CEO Daniel Ek will step down as CEO in January 2026 and become executive chairman, with a focus on capital allocation and long‑term strategy. ^[15]
• Norström (currently Chief Business Officer) and Söderström (Chief Product & Technology Officer) will become co‑CEOs, splitting operational responsibilities. ^[16]

Analysts were initially mixed on the co‑CEO structure, worrying about potential “two captains, one ship” confusion. ^[17] But Wednesday’s EGM helped reduce ambiguity: the people who will run Spotify are now both on the board, and the transition is clearly locked in.

For the stock, that matters in two ways:

1. It clarifies governance risk – a key worry for large institutions.
2. It signals that Spotify is leaning into a “product + monetization” leadership combo at exactly the moment it’s experimenting aggressively with prices, video, and new formats.

2.3 Price hikes and the “subscription captivity” debate

If music videos are the fun part of the story, price hikes are the financially important (and consumer‑annoying) part.

Multiple reports over the past few weeks – now echoed in mainstream business press – say Spotify is preparing to raise U.S. Premium prices again in Q1 2026, its first U.S. increase since mid‑2024. ^[18]

Highlights:

• The Financial Times, echoed by Reuters, TechCrunch, Billboard and others, reported that Spotify plans to lift U.S. prices early next year after rolling out increases in more than 150 markets during the September quarter. ^[19]
• Analysts estimate that even a $1 per month increase for U.S. individual plans could add roughly $500 million in annual revenue. ^[20]
• Commentary in outlets like InvestorsObserver has framed the dynamic as “subscription captivity” – users grumbling about higher digital bills but often failing to cancel, especially for deeply embedded services like music streaming. ^[21]

So Wednesday’s rally is happening with the market fully aware that Spotify is testing the upper limit of pricing power. Recent Seeking Alpha coverage even phrases this as “testing the limits of elasticity” through fresh increases in Europe and other regions. ^[22]

For investors staring at Thursday’s open, the question isn’t whether price hikes are coming – that seems highly likely – but whether:

• Higher ARPU (revenue per user) will offset potential churn, and
• The market is already pricing in those benefits.

3. Fundamentals Under the Hood: Q3 2025 in Focus

Underneath the product headlines, Spotify is no longer a “someday profitable” story. It’s already there.

3.1 Users and subscribers

In Q3 2025, Spotify reported:

• 713 million monthly active users (MAUs) – up about 11% year‑over‑year
• 281 million Premium subscribers – up about 12% year‑over‑year ^[23]

That combination – large scale plus double‑digit growth – is one of the big reasons the stock has soared roughly 40% in 2025, comfortably beating the S&P 500. ^[24]

3.2 Revenue, profit and margins

Financially, Q3 2025 was strong:

• Revenue: About $4.99–5.03 billion, up 13–14% year‑over‑year. ^[25]
• Earnings: Around $3.8 per share, dramatically above consensus expectations of roughly $2.2–2.3. ^[26]
• Profitability: Net margin near 8–9% and return on equity above 20%, confirming that 2024’s first full‑year profit wasn’t a one‑off. ^[27]

Spotify’s own commentary and third‑party analysis highlight three levers behind the margin expansion:

1. Global price increases (including ~9% hikes in many international markets). ^[28]
2. A focus on operating leverage, including prior cost cuts in podcasts and headcount. ^[29]
3. The early fruits of newer revenue streams like audiobooks and advertising. ^[30]

3.3 Q4 guidance: just good enough, not spectacular

Management’s Q4 2025 guidance was solid but not euphoric:

• Expected Q4 revenue of ~$5.18 billion, slightly below the ~$5.27 billion consensus.
• Target of 289 million Premium subs and 745 million MAUs, both a hair under analyst forecasts. ^[31]

So the fundamental backdrop into December is:

• Clear profitability
• Healthy user and subscriber growth
• A guidance outlook that’s good, but not wildly above expectations

That explains why some analysts are cheering the story while others are side‑eyeing the valuation.

4. How Wall Street and Models See SPOT After December 10

4.1 Street ratings and price targets

Across the usual suspects – Yahoo Finance, MarketBeat, WallStreetZen, Zacks, TradingView – a few themes stand out:

• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with an average rating in the “Buy / Strong Buy” zone (around 1.6–2.0 on a 1–5 scale, where 1 is Strong Buy). ^[32]
• MarketBeat pegs the average 12‑month price target at about $758.86, with a range of $545 to $900, implying roughly 25% upside from around $609. ^[33]
• WallStreetZen is a bit more optimistic, with a consensus target near $797, or about 35% upside from a reference price around $589.67. ^[34]
• Zacks currently tags Spotify with a Rank #3 (Hold) in its short‑term rating system – essentially “good company, but maybe not the most compelling near‑term trade at this valuation.” ^[35]

On the more cautious side, a recent Seeking Alpha note rates SPOT a Hold with a $623 price target, arguing that while growth is solid, a high forward P/E around the mid‑60s means much of that future growth is already reflected in the price. ^[36]

4.2 Growth forecasts

Forward‑looking models mostly agree on one thing: the business itself should keep getting bigger.

• Simply Wall St expects Spotify’s earnings to grow about 27–28% annually over the next few years, with revenue growth near 11–12% and return on equity climbing toward ~24%. ^[37]
• WallStreetZen’s aggregated forecasts see earnings growth around 26–27% per year from 2025–2027 and revenue growth in the mid‑single digits, reflecting both pricing power and saturation in mature markets. ^[38]

Algorithmic models are less uniformly rosy. For example, CoinCodex’s quantitative forecast expects SPOT to drift lower over the next year, with a projected one‑year decline of about 30%+ from current levels, despite long‑term upside scenarios that reach $1,000+ per share by the early 2030s. ^[39]

As always with algorithmic price targets: they’re more astrology than astronomy, but they show that not all models are pointing in the same direction.

4.3 Valuation: “priced for perfection”?

The core tension heading into Thursday’s open is simple:

• On one hand, Spotify is profitable, growing and gaining pricing power.
• On the other, the market is making you pay up for that story.

Some context:

• A recent valuation snapshot puts Spotify’s EV/EBITDA near 55x, a hefty multiple even for a high‑growth media‑tech business. ^[40]
• Its forward price‑to‑sales multiple around 6.4x is well above its own 12‑month median near 4.8x, suggesting it’s trading at a premium to its recent history and to some peers. ^[41]

That’s why you see dueling headlines like:

• “Spotify stock has soared 40% in 2025” on one side, ^[42]
• and “Valuation could cap further upside into 2026” on the other. ^[43]

In other words: Spotify the business is in excellent shape. Spotify the stock may already be wearing a lot of that good news.

5. Technical and Trading Signals After the Bell

Short‑term trading models are starting to flash “careful” rather than “fearless.”

• StockInvest data for December 10 shows SPOT up about 3.2% on the day to ~$609, with five straight green sessions, 7 up days out of 10, and roughly 4% gains over two weeks – but its technical composite leans “Sell” in the very short term, reflecting the risk of a pullback after such a run. ^[44]
• Another quant‑style forecast site, Morpher, highlighted a 6.7% jump on December 9 tied to the music‑video expansion and upcoming price hikes, framing the move as a “bullish signal” that could continue if momentum persists. ^[45]

Combine that with Wednesday’s modest after‑hours dip to about $607 and you get a classic setup:

• The trend is clearly up,
• But mean‑reversion risk over the next few sessions is non‑trivial.

For traders heading into the Dec. 11 open, $600 now looks like a near‑term support line to watch, while the mid‑$620s–$650 area (recent congestion from October/November) may act as a first resistance zone, especially if broader markets wobble. ^[46]

6. Institutional Money: Who’s Accumulating Spotify?

The story here isn’t just retail traders chasing momentum.

Recent filings and coverage show:

• Fisher Asset Management boosted its Spotify stake by 22.7% in Q2, to roughly 2.49 million shares, now worth about $1.9 billion, or ~1.2% of the company. ^[47]
• Other reports point to State Street Corp and AXA adding to their positions earlier this year, reinforcing that big institutions continue to see SPOT as a core long‑term holding in the streaming / internet‑content space. ^[48]

With institutional ownership north of 60%, Spotify is very much in “grown‑up” territory. ^[49] That tends to dampen extremes (both euphoric melt‑ups and catastrophic collapses), but it also means earnings, guidance and macro shifts can trigger very fast repricings as funds rebalance.

7. Before the Bell on December 11: What Actually Matters for SPOT Today

Heading into Thursday’s session, here’s the practical checklist for anyone watching SPOT:

7.1 Price action and sentiment

• Watch how the stock trades around $600 in the pre‑market and first hour. After a five‑day winning streak and a small after‑hours dip, a flat or modestly red open would be normal digestion; a sharp gap down could signal traders rotating out of expensive growth after the Fed move. ^[50]
• Option flows and short‑interest data (which spiked into early December) hint at elevated volatility, as some traders bet on a near‑term fade even while long‑term bulls stay put. ^[51]

7.2 Company‑specific catalysts

Nothing earth‑shattering is scheduled for today, but several live themes could generate headlines or analyst notes:

1. Music video engagement data
   • Any early datapoints from Spotify, labels, or third‑party trackers about watch time, replay rates, or churn in beta markets. This matters because Reuters highlighted internal metrics showing big increases in replay and sharing behavior when users see videos. ^[52]
2. Board and leadership narrative
   • Analysts may start publishing more explicit co‑CEO transition pieces now that Norström and Söderström have been elected to the board ahead of the January handoff. ^[53]
3. Price‑hike coverage
   • Expect more think‑pieces and data‑driven articles on U.S. price increases in early 2026, especially as the “subscription captivity” meme spreads into mainstream commentary. ^[54]

7.3 Macro and rates

• The Fed’s rate cut on December 10 has already pushed yields and the dollar lower; if that move extends, richly valued growth stocks like SPOT usually stay in favor. ^[55]
• But if bond yields snap back or Fed commentary turns more hawkish, high‑multiple names with EV/EBITDA in the 50s can be the first victims of a risk‑off day. ^[56]

8. Bottom Line: Spotify Is Crushing Execution – The Stock Has to Defend Its Premium

Summing up Wednesday’s action and Thursday’s setup:

• Operationally, Spotify is doing a lot right:
  • Big user base (713M MAUs, 281M subs).
  • Profits and margins trending higher.
  • Product momentum via music videos, podcasts, audiobooks and Wrapped‑driven engagement. ^[57]
• Strategically, the company is:
  • Cementing a new leadership structure with Ek as executive chairman and two insiders as co‑CEOs. ^[58]
  • Pushing harder into video and premium content to justify higher prices and more ad dollars. ^[59]
  • Preparing for another U.S. price hike in early 2026, which could be a powerful profit lever if churn stays contained. ^[60]
• For the stock, the trade‑off is clear:
  • Wall Street’s 12‑month targets imply ~25–35% upside from here. ^[61]
  • But valuation multiples and some cautious research notes suggest less margin for error if macro conditions worsen or new initiatives (like music videos or higher prices) under‑deliver. ^[62]

So as the market opens on December 11, 2025, SPOT isn’t some mysterious black box. It’s a very visible, very widely‑held test case for a bigger question:

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