Spotify reported strong Q1 2026 results—293 million premium subscribers (up 9% YoY), €4.5 billion in revenue, and €715 million operating income—but guided Q2 operating income of €630M, below analyst estimates of €684M, due to intentional increases in AI compute and marketing spend. Co-CEO Gustav Söderström told investors the company is deliberately "spending more compute per employee" and views AI as the biggest product opportunity since the iPhone App Store era, with a strategic shift from passive music recommendations to interactive AI features like Prompted Playlists and AI DJ (94 million users). Shares fell roughly 10% on the guidance miss.