Pandora Posts Record Q3 Revenues

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, October 24, 2014

Pandora reported higher Q3 sales and profit yesterday (10/23), but active listenership continues to slow. Underlying profit almost doubled to 9 cents a share, exceeding expectations, and revenue jumped 42 percent to $239.6 million-- its highest level yet. Of that, $188 million was in mobile revenue, a 50% increase and making up about 78% of Pandora's overall revenue. Perhaps most impressive was the dramatic increase in local ad revenue which jumped 118% to $41.8 million. The company claims to now have 9.06% of all radio listening in the U.S.

Listener-hour growth was up 25 percent in the latest period and active listeners were up 5.2 percent, seemingly indicating slowing growth. However, because Pandora shifted its reporting calendar this year, it is hard to make a direct correlation with 2013 numbers of the same period.

The company posted a loss of $2 million, or a penny a share, for Q3, down from a wider loss of $4.1 million, or 2 cents a share, a year earlier. Pandora also raised its full-year outlook and now projects 19 cents to 21 cents per share and revenue between $912 million and $917 million.