Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, reported Thursday that it added 162,000 self-pay subscribers in its satellite radio unit in the fourth quarter, but expects a “modest” drop this year amid economic and car industry challenges.
SiriusXM also said its paid promotional subscribers decreased by 28,000 in the final quarter of 2022. In the year-ago period, it had added 55,000 self-pay customers and lost 286,000 paid promotional users.
The total gain of 134,000 subscribers in the latest period compared with a loss of 231,000 in the year-ago period. As of the end of 2022, Sirius’ self-pay subscriber base stood at 32.4 million, with its total users reaching 34.3 million.
At its Pandora streaming business, the company lost 52,000 net self-pay subscribers in the final quarter of 2022, compared with a year-ago loss of 128,000. The company ended December with around 6.2 million total self-pay customers at Pandora.
The company’s quarterly advertising revenue dropped from $495 million in the year-ago period to $480 million. Monthly active users (MAUs) at Pandora were down to 47.6 million from 52.3 million in the prior-year period. Total ad-supported listener hours hit 10.9 billion, down from 11.5 billion, but average monthly listening hours per ad-supported user rose 4 percent to 20.6.
SiriusXM has been investing in and focusing on evolving the listening experience both in and outside the car and is planning to relaunch its app later in 2023. On a morning analyst call, SiriusXM execs said they would be “disciplined” on the company’s audio content spend to chase younger, more diverse audiences, but deeper cuts would be coming at the corporate level as the industry as a whole reacts to an advertising downtown.
CFO Sean Sullivan told analysts SiriusXM would “implement broader cost reductions” company-wide for better productivity, especially as it develops an updated SiriusXM streaming experience. Top execs also talked about their podcasting expansion after Spotify pointed to “more efficient spending” on the audio products to build podcast libraries and grow listenership.
“The economics on podcasting got a little out of hand, to say the least, and as you see the pullback is going on right now. It’s going to have its sea legs in general, but with us, we’re going to be very disciplined,” Scott Greenstein, president and chief content officer of SiriusXM, said of a more cautious stance on capital investment returns.
CEO Jennifer Witz told analysts SiriusXM was “really well positioned” in podcasting even as the audio format was experiencing growing pains as an industry, and CFO Sullivan added “we’ve got a fair amount of inventory and we have people that are interested in putting dollars there.”
Earlier in commentary that accompanied her company’s latest results, Witz said in a statement said: “2022 was a strong year for SiriusXM, as we continued to focus on bringing consumers the best in audio entertainment both in-car and on the go, reaching record high revenue and record low churn.”
She added: “Our strong operating and financial performance in 2022 are a testament to our resilient business model and growing contribution from streaming, which helped us deliver 348,000 net new self-pay subscribers. In 2023, we expect SiriusXM to deliver strong operating performance and generate significant cash, even as we face a challenging economic environment and continue to make material investments in our technology infrastructure.”
CFO Sean Sullivan warned in his own statement: “While we are not issuing subscriber guidance today, we anticipate modestly negative self-pay net adds for the year as economic and demand uncertainty persists, auto sales remain soft, and we reduce marketing ahead of our planned launch of a new streaming experience later this year.”
But he also noted: “SiriusXM met all of its financial guidance in 2022 — a notable accomplishment in a tough year.”
In pre-market trading, SiriusXM shares were down 1.9 percent.
FAQs
Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, reported Thursday that it added 162,000 self-pay subscribers in its satellite radio unit in the fourth quarter, but expects a “modest” drop this year amid economic and car industry challenges.
Is SiriusXM struggling? ›
Sirius XM is a relatively mature company in a low-growth industry, which shows in its second-quarter earnings. Total revenue fell 3.2% year over year to $2.18 billion, but operating income increased 5.4% to $505 million because of lower expenses like office salaries and development.
Is SiriusXM losing subscribers? ›
SiriusXM faced challenges with its self-pay subscriber base, which declined by approximately 1.4% year-over-year, totaling 31.5 million in Q1 2024.
How is SiriusXM a monopoly? ›
Satellite radio is a legal monopoly; the two authorized satellite companies XM and Sirius merged, giving them a clear path to take advantage of radio's faults (commercials, lack of variety, fewer personalities).
Is SiriusXM still profitable? ›
For what it's worth, the company is profitable. Free cash flow (FCF) totaled $1.2 billion last year. It was down 22% versus 2022 but is forecast to rise in the years ahead as capital expenditures decline. And while the customer base declined, executives touted the low monthly churn rate of 1.5% last quarter.
Is SiriusXM in decline? ›
After eight straight years of organic revenue gains in the single digits, Sirius XM posted a 0.6% decline in 2023. This year will likely be worse. The $8.75 billion in revenue that Sirius XM continues to target for all of 2024 is 2.3% lower than where it was last year.
Is SiriusXM in financial trouble? ›
Sirius XM's threat of distress is under 37% at the present time. It has slight chance of undergoing some form of financial straits in the near future. Probability of distress shows the probability of financial torment over the next two years of operations under current economic and market conditions.
Is SiriusXM worth investing? ›
With a market cap of $14.0 billion, Sirius XM holds a solid position in the mid-cap arena. Moreover, the company boasts a generous dividend yield of 2.9%, which is music to any income-focused investor's ears. On the other hand, Sirius XM's revenue growth has stalled out and its free cash flows are shrinking.
Does anyone still use SiriusXM? ›
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Sirius XM had 33.88 million subscribers, slightly down from 33.97 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Is SiriusXM in debt? ›
Total debt on the balance sheet as of June 2024 : $9.39 B
According to Sirius XM's latest financial reports the company's total debt is $9.39 B. A company's total debt is the sum of all current and non-current debts.
Sirius XM Holdings Inc has 35.54% upside potential, based on the analysts' average price target. Sirius XM Holdings Inc has a consensus rating of Hold which is based on 4 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings and 2 sell ratings. The average price target for Sirius XM Holdings Inc is $37.11.
Why is SiriusXM cutting out? ›
There may be a break, weak point, or loose connection in the wiring between the SiriusXM antenna and the tuner. Or there could be the same issues in the wiring between the tuner and your stereo. This can affect the sound quality and it may cause the radio to cut out often.
What is happening with SiriusXM? ›
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) today kicked off a new chapter as an independent public company with a simplified capital structure and strategy for continued success following the closing of its transaction with Liberty Media.
Is SiriusXM having trouble? ›
No, we are not detecting any problems with SiriusXM right now. The last outage detected for SiriusXM was on Sunday, August 11, 2024 with a duration of about 31 minutes. Want to advertise in this space? Reach SiriusXM users directly when they're experiencing technical issues, slow performance, and downtime.
What is happening to Sirius? ›
Sirius XM, parent Liberty Media complete merger, split-off
Broadcast company Sirius XM (SIRI) announced a $1.17 billion share buyback program while pulling back its full-year free cash flow forecast. Furthermore, Sirius Media and Liberty Media completed their spinoff-merger of Liberty SiriusXM (LSXMA, LSXMK).
What happened to Sirius radio? ›
On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, forming Sirius XM Radio, Inc. with XM Satellite Radio, Inc. as its subsidiary.
