Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) Q4 Earnings Miss, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Sirius XM Holdings SIRI reported fourth-quarter 2019 earnings of 5 cents per share that missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.7% and declined 16.7% year over year.

Total revenues on a reported basis jumped 37.8% year over year to $2.06 billion and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.57%. On a pro-forma basis, revenues increased 6.4% year over year.

The top line was driven by robust subscriber and advertisement revenues. Subscriber revenues (76.1% of total revenues) grew 15.3% from the year-ago quarter to $1.56 billion. Advertisement revenues (19.5%) surged 660.4% year over year to $403 million.

Equipment revenues (2.2% of total revenues) rose 9.5% from the year-ago quarter to $46 million. Other revenues (2.1% of total revenues) increased 10% from the year-ago quarter to $44 million.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. Quote

SiriusXM Standalone Details

Sirius XM segment pro-forma revenues were $1.59 billion, up 6.5% year over year. The increase was driven by 2.6% growth in subscriber base and 2.9% in ARPU, which was $14.03.  

Sirius XM added 355K net subscribers. Self-pay subscribers increased 3.7% year over year to 29.978 million. The company added 341K net self-pay subscribers in the reported quarter. However, the company lost paid promotional subscribers due to a decline in shipments from automakers offering paid promotional subscriptions.

Total subscribers were 34.909 million as of Dec 31, 2019, better than 33.039 million as of Dec 31, 2018.

Sirius XM traffic users grew 8% year over year to 9.344 million and Canada subscribers increased 2% to 2.707 million.

Additionally, average self-pay monthly churn rate was 1.7% in the fourth quarter, down 0.1% year over year.

Subscriber revenues rose 6.4% year over year to $1.44 billion. Advertising revenues were $56 million, up 5.7% year over year.

Moreover, Equipment revenues were up 9.5% to $46 million. Other revenues improved 9.5% year over year to $46 million.

Pandora Details

Pandora’s pro-forma revenues increased 6% year over year to $474 million owing to 10.8% growth in advertising revenues, which totaled $348 million. This was partially offset by 5.3% decline in subscriber revenues, which came in at $126 million.

Ad revenues were driven by strong fourth-quarter monetization of $94.55 per thousand hours, up 9.9% year over year.

Management stated that strength in traditional audio advertising, backed by video programmatic and engagement-based video as well as the expansion of off-platform efforts and fees generated on the AdsWizz platform, drove ad revenues.

Moreover, ARPU increased 2.3% year over year to $6.76.

Meanwhile, monthly active users (MAUs) were 63.5 million at the end of the reported quarter, down from 69.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Ad-supported listener hours declined 8% year over year to 3.21 billion.

However, Pandora lost 92K self-pay subscribers and exited the fourth quarter with nearly 6.21 million self-pay subscribers, which included 49K paid promotional subscribers.

Operating Details

In the fourth quarter, total operating expenses surged 60.4% year over year to $1.66 billion.

Revenue share and royalty costs soared 80.1% year over year to $607 million. Satellite and transmission costs surged 103.8% year over year to $53 million.

Customer service & billing costs improved 25.5% to $123 million. Programming & content costs were $124 million, up 20.4% while Cost of Equipment remained flat year over year.  

Engineering, design and development expenses soared 117.6% from the year-ago quarter to $74 million. Sales and marketing expenses jumped 106.4% to $289 million.

However, subscriber acquisition costs declined 3.4% year over year to $114 million.

Adjusted EBITDA declined 1% year over year to $587 million.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Dec 31, 2019, cash and cash equivalents were $106 million compared with $90 million as of Sep 30, 2019.

Long-term debt as of Dec 31 was $7.84 billion compared with $7.90 billion as of Sep 30.

At quarter-end, Sirius XM’s debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 3.2. The company had $1.75 billion available under its revolving credit facility.

Cash flow from operating activities in fourth-quarter 2019 was $532 million compared with $544 million in third-quarter 2019. Free cash flow was $408 million in the fourth quarter compared with $465 million in the previous quarter.

2020 Guidance

Revenues, on a pro-forma basis, are expected to be approximately $8.1 billion for the year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $2.5 billion.

The company anticipates to add almost 0.9 million Sirius XM self-pay net subscribers.

Free cash flow is expected to be around $1.7 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Sirius XM carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Fox Corporation FOXA, Liberty Global LBTYA and ViacomCBS VIAC are some better-ranked stocks in the broader Consumer & Discretionary sector. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Fox, Liberty Global and ViacomCBS are scheduled to report quarterly results on Feb 5, 13 and 20, respectively.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Fox Corporation (FOXA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CBS Corporation (VIAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research