Sirius Beats, Lifts Guidance as Subscribers Rise
NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Sirius XM (SIRI) comfortably beat Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates during the second quarter and raised its guidance Tuesday.
The satellite radio giant brought in revenue of $838 million, a 13% hike on the prior year's quarter, and above analysts' estimate of $834.88 million.
Sirius earned 48 cents a share on net income of $3.1 billion, compared to 3 cents a share and $173 million in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 2 cents a share. The company's second-quarter net income, however, includes a $3 billion income tax benefit.
"SiriusXM continued its exceptional performance in the second quarter, adding over 600,000 subscribers, which represents a post-merger record, despite the mixed macroeconomic trends," explained Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, in a statement. "We also attained a record-level free cash flow of $230 million -- the highest single quarterly free cash flow figure in SiriusXM's history."
Sirius XM, which was formed out of the 2007 merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, grew its subscribers by 622,000 during the quarter, reaching a record 22.9 million subscribers. The company's free cash flow of $230 million represented a 39% hike on the prior year's quarter. Despite speculation that Sirius might return some of its haul to investors, the company's press release made no mention of a change in its strategy. Sirius, which announced the price hike in its history earlier this year, also raised its 2012 revenue guidance Tuesday to approaching $3.4 billion from about $3.3 billion. Analysts are looking for sales of $3.38 billion. Sirius also raised its 2012 net subscriber growth and adjusted EBITDA guidance to approaching 1.6 million and approximately $900 million from 1.5 million and approximately $875 million, respectively. Shares of Sirius, which has shock jock Howard Stern as its highest-profile employee, rose 2.27% to $2.25 before market open. --Written by James Rogers in New York. >To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/jamesjrogers. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.Select the service that is right for you!
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