{
  "id": 14691414,
  "title": "StoneX cuts Spotify to Hold on margin pressure, label costs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/stonex-cuts-spotify-to-hold-on-margin-pressure-label-costs",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-15T12:17:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/stonex-cuts-spotify-to-hold-on-margin-pressure-label-costs-4951550"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "StoneX analyst Mark Zgutowicz has lowered his rating for Spotify from Buy to Hold, citing mounting pressure on the streaming giant's margins. The downgrade comes as Zgutowicz sees limited revenue growth prospects for Spotify's per-user revenue in the coming year and rising payments to record labels. He remains confident in Spotify's long-term network effects but is concerned about the financial implications of ongoing step-ups in per-subscriber minimums with major labels. These minimums increase royalty costs for plans that are bound by them, including discounted plans. Zgutowicz anticipates that these cost increases may hinder gross-margin expansion in the fourth quarter of 2027, which could be below market expectations. The analyst also notes that Spotify's AI Remix feature, which remains in development and has not yet gained widespread major label participation, might not generate significant paid uptake without at least one more major label on board. Currently, Spotify has agreements with Universal Music Group, Merlin, and Kobalt, but Warner Music and Sony have not joined. Zgutowicz believes that the limited major label participation would not generate meaningful paid uptake without a scaled rollout before mid-2027. Consequently, StoneX has reduced its third-quarter revenue estimate to 4.98 billion euros, slightly lower than the previously expected 5 billion euros. The firm also revised its fourth-quarter and 2027 premium gross margin forecasts downward by 40 and 30 basis points, respectively, to 35.4% and 35.3%.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Investing.com",
        "title": "StoneX reiterates Hold rating on Home Bancshares stock",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/stonex-reiterates-hold-rating-on-home-bancshares-stock",
        "published": "2026-10-15T13:02:45.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}