Media

Has Pandora Turned Itself Around?

pandora
Source: courtesy of Pandora Media
Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P) released its second quarter earnings report Thursday after the markets closed. The online music streamer had $0.04 in earnings per share on $285.6 million in revenue versus Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.02 in EPS on $283.06 million in revenue. The second quarter from last year had $0.04 in EPS on $218.89 million in revenue.

The company gave guidance for the third quarter of 2015 as revenues in a range of $310 million to $315 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $25 million to $30 million. There are consensus estimates of $0.10 in EPS on $309.20 million in revenue for the third quarter.

As for the 2015 full year, Pandora expects revenue to be in the range of $1.175 billion to $1.185 billion and adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $75 million to $85 million. There are consensus estimates of $0.19 in EPS on $1.17 billion in revenue for the full year.

During the quarter, total listener hours grew 5% to 5.30 billion compared to 5.04 billion for the same period last year. At the same time active listeners were 79.4 million at the end of the quarter versus 76.4 million from the same period last year.

For a couple of stats related to second quarter revenues:

  • Total revenue grew 30% year over year.
  • Advertising revenue was $230.9 million, up 30% year over year.
  • Total mobile revenue was $229.7 million, an increase of 37% year over year.
  • Local advertising revenue was $58.9 million, up 67% year over year.

Brian McAndrews Chairman and CEO of Pandora, commented on earnings:

Our advertising investments, particularly in local, are paying off. This quarter, local ad revenue reached an all-time high, driving record RPMs. Our monetization success allows us to be an even more effective platform for helping artists grow their careers. In addition to our ability to provide insights to the entire music industry, we fuel promotion that is extremely valuable to music makers.

At the end of the second quarter, Pandora had $461.5 million in cash and investments, compared to $481.3 million at the end of the prior quarter.

Shares of Pandora closed Thursday relatively flat at $13.88 on a 52-week trading range of $13.30 to $28.96. Following the release of the earnings report, shares were up 3.8% at $14.41 in the after-hours trading session. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $21.89.

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