SPOT (Spotify Technology) Beneish M-Score : -2.98 (As of Jun. 24, 2025)

View and export this data going back to 2018. Start your Free Trial

What is Spotify Technology Beneish M-Score?

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.98 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

SPOT' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -3.19 Med: -2.85 Max: -1.34
Current: -2.98

During the past 10 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Spotify Technology was -1.34. The lowest was -3.19. And the median was -2.85.

Spotify Technology Beneish M-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Spotify Technology Beneish M-Score Chart

Spotify Technology Annual Data

Trend

Dec15

Dec16

Dec17

Dec18

Dec19

Dec20

Dec21

Dec22

Dec23

Dec24

Beneish M-Score

Get a 7-Day Free Trial

-2.49

-2.97

-2.83

-2.86

-2.96

Spotify Technology Quarterly Data
	Jun20	Sep20	Dec20	Mar21	Jun21	Sep21	Dec21	Mar22	Jun22	Sep22	Dec22	Mar23	Jun23	Sep23	Dec23	Mar24	Jun24	Sep24	Dec24	Mar25
Beneish M-Score	Get a 7-Day Free Trial															-2.54	-2.56	-2.74	-2.96	-2.98

Competitive Comparison of Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score

For the Internet Content & Information subindustry, Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score Distribution in the Interactive Media Industry

For the Interactive Media industry and Communication Services sector, Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score falls into.

Save Embed

;

Save Embed

;

Spotify Technology Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of Spotify Technology for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

-4.84

0.92 * DSRI

0.528 * GMI

0.404 * AQI

0.892 * SGI

0.115 * DEPI

-4.84

0.92 * 0.8484

0.528 * 0.8448

0.404 * 0.837

0.892 * 1.1679

0.115 * 0.9965

0.172 * SGAI

4.679 * TATA

0.327 * LVGI

0.172 * 0.7645

4.679 * -0.099882

0.327 * 0.8007

-2.98

This Year (Mar25) TTM:

Last Year (Mar24) TTM:

Total Receivables was $859 Mil.
Revenue was 4529.73 + 4441.885 + 4426.193 + 4097.955 = $17,496 Mil.
Gross Profit was 1433.514 + 1432.461 + 1376.249 + 1196.986 = $5,439 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $9,572 Mil.
Total Assets was $13,716 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $434 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $126 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $2,008 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $6,449 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $484 Mil.
Net Income was 243.243 + 384.293 + 332.963 + 294.941 = $1,255 Mil.
Non Operating Income was 0 + -35.602 + -123.196 + -46.286 = $-205 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 582.703 + 924.607 + 793.563 + 529.602 = $2,830 Mil.

Total Receivables was $867 Mil.
Revenue was 3952.174 + 4003.272 + 3582.711 + 3442.037 = $14,980 Mil.
Gross Profit was 1091.304 + 1068.702 + 944.504 + 829.902 = $3,934 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $6,135 Mil.
Total Assets was $9,864 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $541 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $157 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $2,249 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $4,311 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $1,916 Mil.

1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI	=	(Receivables_t / Revenue_t)	/	(Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
	=	(859.459 / 17495.763)	/	(867.391 / 14980.194)
	=	0.049124	/	0.057903
	=	0.8484

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI	=	GrossMargin_t-1	/	GrossMargin_t
	=	(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)	/	(GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
	=	(3934.412 / 14980.194)	/	(5439.21 / 17495.763)
	=	0.262641	/	0.310887
	=	0.8448

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI	=	(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t)	/	(1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
	=	(1 - (9571.892 + 433.514) / 13715.676)	/	(1 - (6134.783 + 541.304) / 9864.13)
	=	0.270513	/	0.323196
	=	0.837

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI	=	Sales_t	/	Sales_t-1
	=	Revenue_t	/	Revenue_t-1
	=	17495.763	/	14980.194
	=	1.1679

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI	=	(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1))	/	(Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
	=	(156.864 / (156.864 + 541.304))	/	(126.192 / (126.192 + 433.514))
	=	0.224679	/	0.225461
	=	0.9965

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI	=	(SGA_t / Sales_t)	/	(SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
	=	(2008.258 / 17495.763)	/	(2249.26 / 14980.194)
	=	0.114785	/	0.150149
	=	0.7645

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI	=	((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t)	/	((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
	=	((484.324 + 6448.649) / 13715.676)	/	((1916.304 + 4310.87) / 9864.13)
	=	0.505478	/	0.631295
	=	0.8007

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA	=	(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t	-	CashFlowsfromOperations_t)	/	TotalAssets_t
	=	(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t	-	CashFlowsfromOperations_t)	/	TotalAssets_t
	=	(1255.44 - -205.084	-	2830.475)	/	13715.676
	=	-0.099882

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Spotify Technology has a M-score of -2.98 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Spotify Technology Beneish M-Score Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Spotify Technology's Beneish M-Score provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.

Spotify Technology Business Description

Industry

GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Communication Services » Interactive Media » Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) » Definitions » Beneish M-Score

Comparable Companies

Traded in Other Exchanges

SPOT N:Mexico 1SPOT:Italy 0SPT:UK 639:Germany S1PO34:Brazil SPOT:Austria

Address

Regeringsgatan 19, Stockholm, SWE, 111 53

Website

https://www.spotify.com

Spotify is the leading global music streaming service provider, with nearly 700 million monthly active users and over 250 million paying subscribers, with the latter constituting the firm's premium segment. Most of the firm's revenue and nearly all its gross profit come from the subscribers, who pay a monthly fee to access a music library that consists of most of the most popular songs ever recorded, including all from the major record labels. The firm also sells separate audiobook subscriptions and integrates podcasts within its standard music app. Podcast content is not exclusive and is typically free to access on other platforms. Ad-supported users can access a similar music catalog but cannot customize a similar on-demand experience.