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

SPOT (Spotify Technology) Beneish M-Score : -2.95 (As of Mar. 20, 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 -2.95 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: -3.15   Med: -2.86   Max: -1.8
Current: -2.95

During the past 10 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of Spotify Technology was -1.80. The lowest was -3.15. And the median was -2.86.


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 Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.49 -2.97 -2.83 -2.86 -2.95

Spotify Technology Quarterly Data
Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.86 -2.53 -2.54 -2.72 -2.95

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.



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:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 0.7378+0.528 * 0.8512+0.404 * 0.8795+0.892 * 1.1843+0.115 * 0.9586
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.7467+4.679 * -0.08016-0.327 * 0.7751
=-2.95

* 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.

This Year (Dec24) TTM:Last Year (Dec23) TTM:
Total Receivables was $837 Mil.
Revenue was 4441.885 + 4426.193 + 4097.955 + 3952.174 = $16,918 Mil.
Gross Profit was 1432.461 + 1376.249 + 1196.986 + 1091.304 = $5,097 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $8,774 Mil.
Total Assets was $12,571 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $434 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $131 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $2,021 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $4,660 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $2,095 Mil.
Net Income was 384.293 + 332.963 + 294.941 + 214.13 = $1,226 Mil.
Non Operating Income was -35.602 + -123.196 + -46.286 + -38.043 = $-243 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 924.607 + 793.563 + 529.602 + 229.348 = $2,477 Mil.
Total Receivables was $957 Mil.
Revenue was 4003.272 + 3582.711 + 3442.037 + 3256.959 = $14,285 Mil.
Gross Profit was 1068.702 + 944.504 + 829.902 + 820.128 = $3,663 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $5,736 Mil.
Total Assets was $9,101 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was $597 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was $170 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was $2,285 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $4,460 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $1,850 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)
=(836.649 / 16918.207) / (957.47 / 14284.979)
=0.049453 / 0.067026
=0.7378

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)
=(3663.236 / 14284.979) / (5097 / 16918.207)
=0.25644 / 0.301273
=0.8512

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 - (8773.822 + 433.508) / 12570.681) / (1 - (5736.096 + 596.51) / 9101.418)
=0.267555 / 0.304218
=0.8795

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
=16918.207 / 14284.979
=1.1843

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))
=(170.277 / (170.277 + 596.51)) / (130.699 / (130.699 + 433.508))
=0.222066 / 0.231651
=0.9586

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)
=(2020.614 / 16918.207) / (2284.803 / 14284.979)
=0.119434 / 0.159944
=0.7467

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)
=((2095.288 + 4659.686) / 12570.681) / ((1849.509 + 4460.196) / 9101.418)
=0.537359 / 0.693266
=0.7751

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
=(1226.327 - -243.127 - 2477.12) / 12570.681
=-0.08016

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 -2.95 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

Address
Regeringsgatan 19, Stockholm, SWE, 111 53
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 comprising 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 very comprehensive 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.