Spotify Shares Surge After Adding Record Number of New Users

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 10, 2026 at 18:50  |  4:07  |  Bloomberg Markets
Speakers
Geetha Ranganathan — Bloomberg Intelligence media analyst

Summary

Geetha Ranganathan discusses Paramount's latest move in its pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery and Spotify's record quarterly user growth. She says Paramount has not raised its $30 bid but may be paving the way for a higher offer, while warning that a higher bid would push leverage to risky levels. On Spotify, she highlights record user additions, premium growth, and strong pricing power that drove a sharp stock rally.

  • Paramount stopped short of raising its $30 hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
  • Only about 7% of WBD shares have tendered, suggesting holders expect a higher offer.
  • Geetha Ranganathan expects Paramount may return with a higher bid before the February 20 deadline.
  • A higher Paramount bid could lift leverage to roughly 7x-7.3x and constrain growth investment.
  • Spotify added 38 million users to 751 million and premium subscriptions rose 10% to 290 million.
  • Spotify's pricing power and product breadth drove a 19% stock gain.
Ideas
Geetha Ranganathan Bloomberg Intelligence media analyst 0:22
WBD holders may get higher bid
Paramount has not yet raised its $30 hostile bid and only about 7% of Warner Bros. Discovery shares have tendered, suggesting WBD holders are holding out for a higher price. Geetha expects Paramount to return to the table and likely raise the bid before the February 20 deadline, creating event-driven upside for WBD shares.
WBD MED
Geetha Ranganathan Bloomberg Intelligence media analyst 0:57
Higher bid could over-lever Paramount
Paramount could afford to raise its bid, but if it raises to $32-$34, leverage would rise from about 6.5x to 7x-7.3x. Those dangerous debt levels would become a distraction, prevent growth investment, and force management to focus on deleveraging, similar to WBD's own history; that makes Paramount a risky owner if it wins the asset.
PSKY MED
Geetha Ranganathan Bloomberg Intelligence media analyst 2:55
Spotify: record users, durable pricing power
Spotify added a record 38 million new users to 751 million and premium subscriptions rose 10% to 290 million, with subscriber growth showing no signs of slowing. Geetha attributes the strength to its best-in-class platform, content breadth, the Wrapped campaign, and global free-tier enhancements, and sees strong pricing power after raising the US individual plan to $13; Amazon Music's price increase reinforces audio-industry pricing power, but Spotify has the most. The stock rose 19% on the results.
SPOT HIGH
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This Bloomberg Markets video, published February 10, 2026, features Geetha Ranganathan discussing WBD, PSKY, SPOT. 3 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Geetha Ranganathan  · Tickers: WBD, PSKY, SPOT