Shares of Pandora popped as much as 7 percent in extended trading on Monday, briefly wiping out the day’s losses after the struggling streaming company posted better-than-expected financial results.
After an initial spike, shares were last up more than 2.5 percent.
- Adjusted earnings per share (EPS): Loss of 21 cents per share, excluding items, vs. a loss of 24 cents per share expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate
- Revenue: $376.8 million, vs. $368.2 million expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate
- That’s a 10 percent increase in revenue from a year ago
Pandora’s narrower-than-expected losses signal a sigh of relief after a rough-and-tumble year at the online radio company.
Co-founder Tim Westergren stepped aside as CEO for the second time in June, amid the company’s ongoing battle against the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. The company fended off an acquisition offer from SiriusXM, only to accept a strategic investment from the satellite radio company. That investment was in lieu of an investment from KKR, a firm known for private equity deals. Pandora and KKR had reached an agreement on a $150 million investment in May.
Despite the drama, Pandora managed to increase both advertising revenue and subscriptions during the second quarter, boosting revenue. Still, the company reported 76 million active listeners during the quarter, slightly shy of the 77.4 million expected by a StreetAccount consensus estimate.
The company has also announced divestiture of online ticket platform Ticketfly and the discontinuation of Pandora operations in Australia and New Zealand.
“We have taken a number of steps to hone the company’s strategy and position Pandora to continue to build audience and extend monetization,” Naveen Chopra, chief financial officer and interim CEO of Pandora.