{"id":136651,"date":"2026-07-25T13:48:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T13:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/acast-gains-26-more-revenue-per-listen-while-listens-rise-only-2\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T13:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T13:49:15","slug":"acast-gains-26-more-revenue-per-listen-while-listens-rise-only-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/acast-gains-26-more-revenue-per-listen-while-listens-rise-only-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Acast gains 26% more revenue per listen while listens rise only 2%"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

Acast reported second-quarter internet gross sales of SEK 775.6 million on July 23, 2026, up 28% yr over yr, whereas the viewers metric underpinning that income grew simply 2%. Common income per pay attention or view climbed 26% to SEK 0.69, the very best determine the Swedish firm has recorded in any quarter.<\/em><\/p>\n

The arithmetic is uncommon for a media enterprise in a progress section. Quantity barely moved. Value did nearly the entire work.<\/p>\n

Acast<\/a>\u00a0stated listens and views reached 1,120 million within the quarter, in opposition to 1,102 million a yr earlier. Web gross sales rose to SEK 775.6 million from SEK 606.7 million. Natural progress, adjusted for foreign money and acquisitions, got here in at 29%, in opposition to reported progress of 28%. The hole between the 2 narrowed sharply from the primary quarter, when reported progress of 20% sat properly under natural progress of 30%, a distinction the corporate attributed to a a lot smaller foreign money headwind within the April to June interval.<\/p>\n

Value, not quantity<\/h2>\n

Common income per pay attention or view, which Acast abbreviates as\u00a0ARPLV<\/strong>, has now risen in six of the previous eight quarters on the corporate’s personal disclosed sequence: SEK 0.43 within the second and third quarters of 2024, SEK 0.54, SEK 0.48, SEK 0.55, SEK 0.58, SEK 0.66, SEK 0.58 and SEK 0.69. The quarterly sample is jagged, reflecting seasonality that the corporate describes as softer within the first quarter and strongest within the fourth.<\/p>\n

Requested through the earnings name which levers have been transferring the metric, chief government Greg Glenday pointed to stock utilisation moderately than headline charge playing cards. “The first levers behind what we’re calling common income per pay attention and look at, together with the HLS views, is sell-through enlargement, omni-channel progress, which incorporates video within the combine, with increased CPMs,” Glenday stated. He added that the shift traces again to demand composition: “Principally I can attribute it to extra upstream engagement with larger model advertisers, pulling extra demand into podcasting itself.”<\/p>\n

Acast doesn’t disclose CPMs, advert load or sell-through charges quarterly. That leaves ARPLV as the one public proxy for monetisation depth, and it’s a blended determine that mixes charge, fill and format.<\/p>\n

Glenday was blunt about how the market is discussing pricing. “No one’s speaking about CPMs,” he stated, describing conversations at business occasions through the quarter. “Manufacturers are actually, actually interested by consideration and outcomes and far more tangible outcomes.”<\/p>\n

The place the income got here from<\/h2>\n

Europe generated internet gross sales of SEK 398.3 million, up 25% and 26% organically. North America reached SEK 319.3 million, up 34% reported and 37% organically. Different Markets contributed SEK 58.0 million, up 17% reported however solely 13% organically.<\/p>\n

In absolute phrases the 2 massive areas have been near-identical contributors. Chief monetary officer Anders H\u00e4gg put the incremental figures at SEK 79 million for Europe and SEK 81 million for North America. He additionally framed the natural run charge traditionally: “That extends a run to 6 consecutive quarters above 25% natural progress, underlining the consistency of underlying demand.”<\/p>\n

Contribution revenue informed a extra divergent story. Europe delivered SEK 101.5 million at a 25% contribution margin, up from 24%. North America delivered SEK 40.6 million at 13%, up from 10%. Different Markets slipped to an 11% margin from 13%.<\/p>\n

H\u00e4gg attributed the persistent European result in market maturity and gross sales construction. North America, he stated, “displays North America being a youthful, much less penetrated market, plus the continued native gross sales funding wanted to win the bigger managed service offers within the U.S.” On Europe’s acceleration, he provided a comparative caveat that the written report doesn’t carry: “In some markets, we had a little bit of a softer Q2 final yr, which additionally helps clarify a number of the robust efficiency in Q2 at Europe on this yr.”<\/p>\n

Group gross margin got here in at 39%, down from 40%, with gross revenue of SEK 305.2 million. Acast attributed the softening to product and nation combine as North America, which carries a decrease margin whereas scaling, takes a bigger share of group income.<\/p>\n

The metric modified mid-year<\/h2>\n

From this quarter Acast changed its listens KPI with\u00a0listens and views<\/strong>, which now incorporates all IAB-validated listens plus HTTP Dwell Streaming listens and views. The corporate stated reported numbers presently replicate RSS and HLS consumption, and that it expects so as to add\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0by the third-quarter report.<\/p>\n

The timing issues for anybody evaluating the sequence. The prior-year comparative of 1,102 million sits on the older foundation, which suggests a metric that has been widened to incorporate a video part nonetheless produced solely 2% progress. Acast has not revealed a like-for-like break up displaying how a lot of the 1,120 million determine comes from HLS.<\/p>\n

Glenday framed the change as an business alignment train moderately than a presentational one. “We’re excited to be actively working with them on establishing business requirements for HLS measurement, podcast viewers consumption that could be both audio or video, or a hybrid of the 2,” he stated, referring to the IAB.<\/p>\n

That work has a public counterpart.\u00a0IAB Tech Lab released version 2.3 of its Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines for public comment on July 21, 2026<\/a>, two days earlier than Acast reported, extending obtain and ad-delivery counting guidelines to video podcast episodes distributed by way of open RSS feeds and changing the time period listener with podcast client. Acast seems on the contributor roster. The draft additionally defines three separate measurement window sorts that may produce three completely different totals from similar server logs, a element that bears instantly on how comparable any cross-platform pay attention or view determine really is.<\/p>\n

Measurement fragmentation has been a working theme within the channel.\u00a0Spotify redefined a podcast play as a 30-second listen or view on June 11, 2026<\/a>, aligning with a definition from the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting.<\/p>\n

Video stock continues to be small<\/h2>\n

Acast stated greater than 180 exhibits are actually enabled for video on\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/a>, publishing greater than 1,000 episodes. That compares with 117 exhibits on the level when\u00a0Acast ran the first integrated video advertising campaigns on Apple Podcasts on May 13, 2026, with State Farm and T-Mobile as lead brands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In opposition to a community of greater than 140,000 exhibits, 180 is a rounding error. Glenday stated as a lot when pressed on video pricing. “Video alone is true now nonetheless a small share of the podcast business, and from a income standpoint, and a small share of our income,” he stated, declining to reveal comparative charges whereas noting that “these blended CPMs can be increased than audio solely.”<\/p>\n

The business hole between codecs is documented elsewhere within the sector.\u00a0Audioboom<\/a>\u00a0reported audio income per thousand downloads of roughly $71 in opposition to video charges under half that determine, in response to figures cited in protection of the IAB Tech Lab draft. Whether or not Apple’s HLS setting closes that hole or reproduces it’s not but answerable from Acast’s disclosure.<\/p>\n

The infrastructure behind the format arrived earlier within the yr.\u00a0Apple announced HLS video podcasts with dynamic ad insertion on February 16, 2026<\/a>, naming Acast amongst 4 launch internet hosting suppliers, and\u00a0Acast activated the distribution in Sweden on April 30, 2026 alongside two video-specialist hires and studio upgrades in Stockholm and Oslo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prices, incentives and the revenue line<\/h2>\n

Working bills excluding depreciation and amortisation fell 13% in reported phrases to SEK 274.7 million, however the prior-year quarter carried SEK 59.1 million of things affecting comparability tied to a chief government transition and a re-listing. Stripped of these, working bills rose 8%.<\/p>\n

H\u00e4gg attributed a big share of that improve to a mechanical impact moderately than a strategic one. “A part of that OpEx progress displays the elevated social safety contributions tied to the motivation program pushed by the share value rising sharply through the quarter, which is extra of a mechanical hyperlink and never the change within the underlying price technique,” he stated. He gave the quarterly break up instantly: “Our quarter one OpEx progress was 2% and in our Q2, it was 8%, so year-to-date, that is 6%.” On ahead coverage, he stated Acast “will proceed investing in gross sales and product capability however at a tempo materially slower than income progress.”<\/p>\n

EBITDA reached SEK 57.7 million, a 7% margin, in opposition to SEK -43.2 million a yr earlier. Working revenue got here in at SEK 31.6 million for a 4% margin, in opposition to SEK -66.4 million and -11%. Web revenue was SEK 27.3 million, versus a lack of SEK 79.7 million. Fundamental earnings per share moved to SEK 0.15 from SEK -0.44.<\/p>\n

One presentational level deserves flagging. Acast’s investor deck compares the present quarter’s SEK 31.6 million working revenue in opposition to SEK -7 million a yr in the past on one slide, utilizing the adjusted determine, and in opposition to SEK -66 million on one other slide masking money stream, utilizing the reported determine. Each are correct; the advance is both SEK 38.9 million or SEK 98 million relying on which baseline is utilized.<\/p>\n

Money stream from working actions was SEK 50.1 million, an enchancment of SEK 103.5 million yr over yr. On a rolling twelve-month foundation, working money stream reached SEK 176 million. Money and equivalents stood at SEK 629.5 million at June 30, up from SEK 589.3 million on the finish of 2025.<\/p>\n

Headcount reached 475 full-time workers on the finish of June, in opposition to 416 a yr earlier, plus 28 consultants. Glenday put internet additions through the quarter at “15 or so full-time heads.”<\/p>\n

For the primary half, internet gross sales reached SEK 1,420.6 million, up 24% reported and 30% natural. EBITDA of SEK 86.8 million in contrast with SEK -51.3 million, and adjusted EBITDA rose from SEK 12.5 million to SEK 86.8 million, a near-sevenfold improve that the corporate describes as practically 600% progress.<\/p>\n

Content material and the acquisition ledger<\/h2>\n

Three signings landed within the quarter. The Washington Submit partnered with Acast on two new multi-format exhibits involving journalists Carolyn Hax, Shane O’Neill and Michelle Singletary. The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast joined underneath a multi-year deal. The Remark Part with Drew Afualo additionally moved onto the community.<\/p>\n

Glenday was particular concerning the construction. “These are unique offers. They’re coming to the Acast community for us to distribute and monetize these exhibits solely, and that is what we do,” he stated. “They don’t seem to be IP or licensing offers. They’re coming to us to host.”<\/p>\n

The corporate additionally disclosed two awards within the quarter: a 2026 Peabody Award for Divine Intervention from Acast Artistic Studios, the unit previously often called Marvel Media Community, and a Pulitzer Prize for audio reporting for Pablo Torre Finds Out.<\/p>\n

On the steadiness sheet, the acquisition value allocation for Wake Phrase GmbH, acquired December 19, 2025, was finalised through the interval. The truthful worth of acquired internet property was set at SEK 13.3 million in opposition to a preliminary SEK 18.8 million, lowering recognised different working revenue by SEK 5.5 million and prompting a retrospective restatement of 2025 comparatives. Wake Phrase Studios contributed SEK 2.5 million in internet gross sales and SEK -5.3 million in contribution revenue to the European phase through the quarter.<\/p>\n

Requested whether or not acquisitions would return as a quantity lever given the two% viewers progress, Glenday saved the reply open: “We’re opportunistic. I feel if it is simpler to construct it, we’ll construct it, borrow it, associate, or purchase it.”<\/p>\n

The central determine for media consumers isn’t the income line. It’s the divergence between a flat viewers base and a 26% rise in income per unit of that viewers. For advertisers planning podcast budgets, that mixture describes a market the place the identical attain prices meaningfully greater than it did a yr in the past, and the place the rise is being pushed by demand composition moderately than by provide enlargement.<\/p>\n

The broader spending knowledge is in keeping with that studying.\u00a0Global podcast advertising peaked at $408 million in December 2025, the highest single month in Magellan AI’s dataset<\/a>, and\u00a0spending grew 32% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025 as 1,482 brands entered the channel for the first time<\/a>. United States podcast advert income reached a file $2.9 billion, an increase of greater than 17%,\u00a0according to figures cited by Integral Ad Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Confidence in measurement has not saved tempo with the cash.\u00a0Only 13% of advertisers confidently use audio attribution tools, according to Bauer Media Audio research, even as 96% plan to maintain or increase audio spend<\/a>.\u00a0A separate survey found podcast adoption among marketers at 44.9%, with just 16.8% tracking formal return on investment<\/a>. Acast’s personal focusing on infrastructure has been constructed in opposition to that hole:\u00a0the company launched the podcast industry’s first pre-bid episode-level targeting integration with Barometer on January 21, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There’s a second consideration for consumers weighing stock sources. Acast’s mannequin retains advert gross sales and viewers knowledge with the internet hosting supplier moderately than the distribution platform, which is the structural distinction between the Apple HLS route and platform-controlled video environments. That distinction determines who studies the numbers a marketing campaign is judged on.<\/p>\n

The corporate reiterated its 2028 EBIT margin goal, which sits at 10% underneath the efficiency inventory unit programme launched on June 15, 2026. The third-quarter report is scheduled for October 28, 2026, and would be the first to incorporate YouTube consumption within the viewers metric.<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/h2>\n