Somebody Made Money On Sirius (SIRI)

Sirius (SIR) has gone from being a market darling to one of the most maligned companies among those that the press follows with any regularity.

The conventional wisdom is that the firm needs a merger with rival XM Satellite (XMSR) to even stay afloat. There may be something to that. At the end of the last reported quarter SIRI has long-term debt of almost $1.3 billion. The company is still chewing through money like a rat through drywall. Its loss from operations last quarter was $123 million.

But, whether the company has been a good investment is a matter of perspective. Anyone who bought the stock at the beginning of last year has had an unpleasant ride. But, over the last five years, the shares have delivered like UPS.

Over a five year period, SIRI shares are up almost 275%. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), two super-blue-chips are up about 200%. Microsoft (MSFT) is a little better than flat.

And, Howard Stern made good money on the company. That should be good enough for the rest of us.

Douglas A. McIntyre