SiriusXM Profits Rose More than Expected, Helped Along by Pandora Stake

Sirius XM Holdings on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $289.4 million, or six cents per share. That beat analyst estimates by one cent.

One the one hand, that’s just a penny higher. On the other, it’s a 20 percent beat.

The New York-based satellite radio company – which is home to Breitbart News Daily, Breitbart News Tonight, Breitbart News Saturday, and Breitbart News Sunday on its Patriot channel – said it had revenue of $1.38 billion in the period, in line with expectations.  That’s a six percent gain from a year ago. Average revenue per user, an important industry metric, was flat.

“SiriusXM has come out of the gate strong in 2018,” said cheif executive Jim Meyer in a statement.

The company’s shares slid slightly after the results were reported, ending the day around half a percentage point lower. Shares are up nearly 20 percent for the year.

Earnings were boosted by an unrealized $31 million gain in the Sirius XM’s stake in Pandora.

The company said that it continues to expect revenue to come in at $5.7 billion for the year, a five percent increase over 2016.

The company added 330,000 subscriptions in the quarter, bringing total subscriptions up above 33 million for the first time.