*By Conor White*
Analysts were wrong about Spotify.
That's according to BTIG media and tech analyst Rich Greenfield, who initiated coverage of the stock this week with a "Buy" rating. In an interview with Cheddar Tuesday, he said he should have been more optimistic at the start.
"We were pretty concerned with how the stock would trade, and looking for it to settle, and honestly, we just tried to be cute," he explained. "The reality is, this is a great platform."
Spotify went public on the New York Stock Exchange in April, [directly listing](https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMTU2Mzg=) shares rather than launching a more traditional IPO. Shares opened at $165.90 and, after some initial volatility, have risen to nearly $190 a share, almost a 13 percent gain.
Greenfield said he doesn't just expect Spotify to keep trending up; he also thinks the entire music streaming industry will follow.
"We think this is a company that has lots of room to grow, the category has a lot of room to grow," Greenfield noted. "This is not about Spotify versus Apple, or Spotify versus Amazon Music."
"There is a major shift toward people listening to paid, premium music services."
Greenfield insisted these companies are not at warーbut he still expects Spotify to remain king.
"Spotify is the only one of these companies that is truly global, works across all devices, works in and out of the home," he explained.
"Pandora's only in the U.S., Apple is really focused on iOS devices. If you want anything that really works anywhere, in and out of the home, you're coming out with Spotify."
Spotify reports earnings before the market opens on Thursday.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/is-spotify-a-must-buy-stock).
Oracle soars as it cashes in on the AI boom, Plus: Starbucks shares continue to fall under its new CEO, and does anybody actually want a new iPhone Air?
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading. That is according to wealth tracker Bloomberg. A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years. The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle. Forbes still has Musk as the richest, however, valuing his private businesses much higher.
