Subscription Prices Are Going Up Again

Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing

The Motley Fool

Business, Investing

4.3 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Subscription prices are going up across the board and that may be the norm for the foreseeable future. Then we discuss the state of retail spending and why Unity’s stock dropped 30% on fear AI will disrupt the company. Travis Hoium, Lou Whiteman, and Rachel Warren discuss: - Spotify and subscription price increases - Retail sales - Unity’s 30% haircut Companies discussed: Spotify (SPOT), Netflix (NFLX), Disney (DIS), Unity (U). Host: Travis Hoium Guests: Lou Whiteman, Rachel Warren Engineer: Dan Boyd, Kristi Waterworth Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement. We’re committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is AI disruption coming for every corner of the market?
0:07.0	Motley Fool Money starts now.
0:10.0	Welcome to Motley Full Money. I'm Travis Hoy. I'm joined today by Lou Whiteman and Rachel Warren.
0:24.8	We got to start with some of the big topics of the week. This is the heart of earning season. There are dozens of companies reporting every single day.
0:31.7	One of the big things that popped out to me this week was actually Spotify, a company we don't talk about a whole lot, but you may be
0:37.9	listening to us on Spotify, but they are increasing their prices. Once again, they did that in
0:44.1	January. I got my notice this week. And that's actually really helping their financials. So that's
0:49.6	the good news. But my question for you, Lou, is this is something that we've seen with a lot of
0:54.6	these companies.
0:55.7	Netflix, you see constant price increases for Disney Plus.
0:59.3	I assume that's coming again for ESPN.
1:01.7	Every single one of these subscription services.
1:04.4	Is that the long-term play now for these companies?
1:07.5	Is, hey, look, there's nowhere really else for you to go. So we're just
1:12.2	going to keep slowly jacking up these prices and increasing our profits. And as investors,
1:16.6	you're not getting the organic growth that you once got, but the bottom line might be getting
1:21.3	better. I think the answer is yes and no. And I think some historical context is needed here.
1:26.7	So these original prices, the ones we're comparing it to, they were set artificially low at the beginning as loss leaders, right?
1:33.7	And that was funded by VC funds, which in terms were funded by basically zero rates.
1:39.2	So there was free money.
1:42.1	These businesses used that free money to try to gain share. And so now
1:46.3	the price hikes look dramatic off of that. But I don't think that we can say necessarily that
	...

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