CNBC's Jim Cramer on Monday likened music streaming service Spotify's story and meteoric rise on the market to that of video streaming service Netflix's.
Netflix's pivot toward original content in 2011, Cramer said, was a catalyst behind the stock's run as the best performing company on Wall Street last decade when it offered investors a more than 4,000% return. Spotify's shift to podcasts since coming public in 2018 is setting up the company for similar growth and dominance in the audio space, he said.
"I think Spotify's doing the same thing, and now that the market's finally bought into their podcasting strategy — which is a great one — what matters here is subscriber growth," the "Mad Money" host said.
When the coronavirus pandemic first rattled markets, Spotify shares sold off almost 24% from its February highs to March lows. Since bottoming under $118, the stock has more than doubled in value, helped by a strong quarterly report in April.
Shares rose 2% in Monday's session closing at $236.06.
"Better-than-expected sales, better-than-expected earnings, premium subscribers and monthly average users going way up," Cramer highlighted in Spotify's latest quarterly report. "While management's forecast for the second quarter was a little light, they lowered their full-year revenue guidance, they were clearly doing a great job of coping with the pandemic."
Spotify, which offers both free ad-based and premium services to users, grew its premium subscriber base in the first quarter by 31% to 130 million paying customers. The company also boosted its value through signing program deals with Joe Rogan, one of the leading podcasters today, Kim Kardashian and Warner Bros since the quarterly report.
That follows Spotify's estimated $196 million acquisition of sports and entertainment news company The Ringer in February and more than $390 million worth of content acquisitions in 2019.
Spotify shares spent much of 2019 in consolidation, peaking multiple times in the $150s.
"As long as Spotify can keep hitting these numbers, I think it's got a lot more upside," Cramer said. "That said, if you got that huge gain" and "want to take something off the table, no one ever got hurt taking a profit, but let the rest run."
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