What happened
Shares of streaming music company Spotify Technology (SPOT 1.19%) rose as much as 11.4% on Friday. By the time the market closed, the stock was up 8.6%.
It's likely that the stock's gain reflects a big increase for the overall market on Friday, particularly for growth stocks like Spotify. In addition, some investors may be betting that shares are oversold after the stock tumbled more than 40% between last Sept. 1 and this Thursday.
Image source: Spotify.
So what
Two headlines helped fuel optimism for stocks on Friday. The U.S. economy added 312,000 jobs in December -- over 100,000 more than experts were estimating. In addition, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated the central bank would be patient about enacting any interest rate hikes.
The S&P 500 gained 3.2% on Friday, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 4.2%. Many high-growth stocks in particular saw a huge boost, setting the stage for a rally in Spotify's stock price after months of getting beaten down.
Now what
In Spotify's most recent earnings release, the company said it expected fourth-quarter monthly active users to rise 24% to 29% year over year, to between 199 million and 206 million. It expects its premium subscribers to increase 30% to 36% year over year, to between 93 million and 96 million. And management forecast fourth-quarter revenue to increase 18% to 35% year over year during the period.
Check out the latest Spotify earnings call transcript.
