SiriusXM + Pandora Posts Mixed Numbers

SiriusXM today announced missed Q1 2019 operating and financial results. Total revenue of $1.7 billion increased 27% compared to the prior year with growth driven by the acquisition of Pandora. But the purchase also hit net income driving it down 44% to $162 million.

Overall revenues grew 26% with Pandora's help, up 8% to $1.5 billion.

User Stats

SiriusXM added 131,000 net new self-pay subscribers to bring their total to 29.1 million. Total net subscriber were up 132,000, for a total of 34.2M subscribers. Self-pay monthly churn was flat at 1.8%.

Pandora's total  ad-supported listener hours were 3.4 billion, down from 3.8 billion. Paying Pandora subscribers across all plans and services were up 246,000 to nearly 6.2M self-pay subscribers and 6.9 million total subscribers.

FIRST QUARTER 2019 HIGHLIGHTS

SIRIUSXM

• Self-Pay Subscribers Top 29 Million. SiriusXM added 131 thousand net new self-pay subscribers in the first quarter to end with nearly 29.1 million self-pay subscribers. Total net subscriber additions in the first quarter were 132 thousand, resulting in more than 34.2 million total SiriusXM subscribers at the end of the period. Self-pay monthly churn for the quarter was 1.8%, flat compared to the first quarter of 2018. 
• SiriusXM Revenue of $1.5 Billion. First quarter revenue of $1.5 billion grew 8% compared to the prior year period. This growth was driven by a 3% increase in SiriusXM subscribers and 4% growth in SiriusXM's average revenue per user (ARPU) to $13.52. 
• Gross Profit Grows 8%. Total cost of services at SiriusXM increased 9% to $569 million in the first quarter, driven primarily by higher revenue share and royalties. Gross profit at SiriusXM in the quarter totaled $926 million, increasing 8% over the first quarter of 2018, and produced a gross margin of 62%, approximately flat compared to the prior year period. 
• Exclusive Performances, Legendary Artists. SiriusXM continued to demonstrate its ability to "go deep" with seminal artists with a special limited-time channel KISS Army Radio — accompanied by a subscriber concert on LA's Sunset Strip — as well as exclusively broadcasting a series of live concerts by country star Eric Church on The Highway channel and a special Twenty One Pilots performance on Alt Nation for an audience of SiriusXM subscribers.

PANDORA

• Ad Revenue Hit Q1 Record. Advertising revenue at Pandora reached a first quarter record of $231 million, growing 7% over the first quarter of 2018. Ad revenue was driven by record first quarter monetization of $62.60 per thousand hours, growing 13% over the first quarter 2018. Revenue growth was attributed to strength in audio and video programmatic and engagement-based video as well as the expansion of off-platform efforts and fees generated on the AdsWizz platform. Total revenue for Pandora grew 14% to $365 million in the quarter, driven by a 29% increase in subscriber revenue to $134 million. 
• Total Ad Supported Listener Hours of 3.42 Billion. Monthly Active Users (MAUs) at Pandora were 66.0 million in the first quarter, down from 72.3 million in the prior year period. This resulted in total ad supported listener hours of 3.4 billion in the period, down from 3.8 billion in the first quarter of 2018. 
• Self-Pay Net Adds of 246 Thousand. Pandora added 246 thousand net new self-pay subscribers in the first quarter to end with nearly 6.2 million self-pay subscribers. Total Pandora subscribers were 6.9 million at the end of the period. 
• Gross Profit Grows 73%. Total cost of services at Pandora in the first quarter of 2019 of $254 million were relatively flat compared with the first quarter 2018, with lower revenue share and royalties offsetting slightly higher programming and content and customer service and billing expenses. Gross profit at Pandora totaled $111 million, increasing 73% over the first quarter of 2018. This produced a gross margin for Pandora in the quarter of 30%, growing approximately 1,000 basis points from 20% in the prior year period. 
• Sound On: Spring Campaign and New Features. Pandora launched its Sound On brand campaign in iconic locations across Nashville, San Francisco, Oakland, NYC, Miami and Atlanta, featuring some of the season's most high-profile artists including Jonas Brothers, Maren Morris, Bebe Rexha, Khalid, 2 Chainz, John Legend and Becky G. During the quarter, Pandora also launched new features like Stories, which combine the best of podcasts and music playlists and Modes, which allows the user to select a more "lean forward" or "lean back" experience.