Spotify’s stock was up nearly 5.5% on Friday (Aug. 21) following a disclosure the prior evening that the streaming giant’s board had approved up to $1.5 billion in additional stock buybacks.
Spotify still had $723 million cash that was approved to be spent on stock buybacks from an earlier repurchase plan, and the additional approval now super-sizes the stock buyback program to approximately $2.223 billion.
Companies buy back their own shares to reduce the number of shares available on the open market, thereby driving up the value of existing shares by making them slightly more scarce. It can also be seen as a reward for shareholders who have stuck with the company.
Spotify’s stock surged by 30-40% last summer, with an all-time high closing price of $775.90 on June 26, 2025, as the company hit monthly average user milestones and expanded its profit margin. However, Spotify’s share price has since fallen by more than 30% to $533.13 as of the close of market Thursday (Aug. 20), as some investors cashed out and the company’s growth story became more complex.
In its most recent quarterly report, the company said it grew its subscriber base and expanded gross margins at rates that exceeded its forecasts, but that investments in marketing, AI and cloud storage, and flat MAU growth, would weigh on profits in the coming quarters.
In a statement, the company highlighted getting the board’s authorization for share buybacks does not obligate it “to acquire any particular amount of ordinary shares, and the repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. … The repurchase program will be executed consistent with the Company’s capital allocation strategy.”
Spotify’s market cap, as of 11 a.m. on Friday, was $110.77 billion, with about 205.7 million shares outstanding and a public float of 151.31 million shares.
