Spotify Technology SA reported a second-quarter net loss of €86 million, or €0.42 per share, swinging from a profit a year earlier. Revenue increased 10% year on year to €4.19 billion but missed the €4.26 billion consensus forecast, pushing the stock down as much as 7% in pre-market trading. User growth remained robust: monthly active users rose 11% to 696 million and premium subscribers climbed 12% to 276 million, both ahead of Wall Street estimates. Gross margin widened by 227 basis points to 31.5%, yet a €98 million jump in payroll-linked “social charges” and higher personnel costs outweighed the operational gains and drove the quarterly loss. Looking ahead, the Stockholm-based company projects third-quarter revenue of about €4.2 billion—below analysts’ €4.48 billion expectation—alongside 710 million monthly active users and 281 million premium subscribers. Spotify also expanded its share-repurchase authorization to as much as $1 billion as it seeks to buoy the stock while it presses on with efforts to improve profitability.