Pandora Stock Up 32% On Sale Rumors
Shares of Pandora were up 2% on Friday, for a total rise of 32% in the last three weeks, as rumors grew that the popular streaming music service is up for sale.
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Rumors that Pandora is for sale has pushed the stock up 32% in the last 3 weeks. No specific suitors have been named, but Pandora has said that it is open to the right merger or acquisition. Pandora's market cap is currently $2.61 billion.
Only a handful of companies would seem likely suitors. Google, Amazon and Apple have all been suggested, but media companies like Time Warner could also show interest. Even a cash rich Spotify could put together the needed financing.
Wall Street initially punished Pandora last month, after founder Tim Westergren returned as CEO as part of a major executive restructuring. But several top analysts praised the move, calling Westergren "charismatic" and "visionary." “This is front and center about a company that wants to change its mojo,” Barton Crockett, analyst for FBR Capital Markets told the New York Times. “They have an inspirational founder who has been very prominent within Pandora, and representing Pandora to artists, and is now stepping up to take over the whole operation.”
Now the rumor mill – true or false – is aiding Westergren's effort to reshape Pandora into a profitable company.
There’s a reason why no one wants to buy Pandora. The business model stinks, and it’s never going to be profitable, and it’s going to lose even more money as it needs to ramp up spending to try to counter Apple, Spotify, and other well-financed competitors. Apple isn’t going to be Pandora because it really doesn’t represent anything that different or revolutionary in terms of a service or business model. Pandora is the slow burn disaster of internet bubble 2.0.