Sirius Sags Under Heavy Losses

Sirius (SIRI Quote) boosted its subscriber count in the latest quarter, but not as much as its fans on Wall Street had hoped.

The satellite radio broadcaster's shares slipped 6% Wednesday, after a first-quarter financial report showed the company improving its top line but failing to make substantial inroads into its massive losses.

The New York company added 90,602 new customers in the quarter ended March 31. That's a 35% gain, taking its subscriber count to 351,663 at the end of the first quarter. But Wall Street analysts had expected the company to expand its user rolls by something like 110,000 subscribers.

Meanwhile, high costs and subscriber acquisition expenses translated to a net loss of $146 million, or 12 cents per share, on $9.2 million in sales. That compares to a loss of $148 million, or 14 cents a share, on $5 million in revenue in the previous quarter ended in December. Analysts had expected a 10-cent loss on $9 million in sales. ...