Spotify's stock price drops due to lackluster user growth forecasts.

• After-hours trading of Spotify shares declined following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report.
• The company beat on the top and bottom line.
• The number of monthly active users on the streaming platform increased to 406 million in the quarter from 381 million in the previous period.

After-hours trading saw a 13% drop in shares of the streamer following the release of their fourth-quarter earnings report.

Although the numbers mostly exceeded expectations, Q1 user growth projections were only slightly above analysts' predictions. Additionally, a broader selloff in tech shares occurred after Meta reported disappointing earnings.

Here are the key numbers:

• According to Refinitiv, the loss per share was 21 euro cents instead of the expected 43 euro cents (24 cents instead of 49 cents).
• Revenue: 2.69 billion euros vs 2.65 billion euros expected by Refinitiv

In the quarter, the streaming company reported 406 million monthly active users, up from 381 million, which is in line with its guidance of 400 million to 407 million and slightly exceeded analyst expectations, according to StreetAccount. Additionally, Spotify's premium subscribers grew by 16% year over year to 180 million, thanks to the success of its promotional campaigns.

Spotify anticipates reporting 418 million monthly active users in the first quarter of 2022, exceeding analysts' expectations of 417.8 million, according to StreetAccount. Additionally, the company expects to have 183 million total premium subscribers.

The company announced that it will no longer provide annual guidance for its multi-year initiatives, which are measured as such. Instead, it will provide a single estimate for each metric in quarterly guidance.

In the quarter, Spotify reported that ad-supported revenue accounted for a record 15% of its total revenues, contributing to the company's ad-supported revenue benefitting from strong demand.

In the quarter, the number of monthly active users who engaged with podcasts on Spotify increased by a double digit.

In the company's report, CEO Daniel Ek addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding podcaster Joe Rogan and the accusations that he has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories about Covid-19 on his show. This has led musicians to pull their music from the platform. Spotify, which has been hosting Rogan's episodes, has also been under fire for its role in the controversy. The company bought the exclusive streaming rights to "The Joe Rogan Experience" in a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million.

Spotify has added content advisories to any material mentioning Covid-19 and directed its users to public health sites for more information, but Ek believes there is still room for improvement.

"There's still work to be done," Ek said.

Spotify has experienced significant growth in podcasts, with 3.6 million podcasts on the platform at the end of the quarter, up from 3.2 million in the previous quarter. Additionally, podcast consumption hours on Spotify reached an all-time high during the same period.