SIRIUS & XM Focus: Merger Or Earnings? (XMSR, SIRI)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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Next week we are getting dual earnings reports out of Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and from XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR).  We are also waiting for a Department of Justice approval decision, and frankly many signs had pointed to a decision coming this week.  Oh well, that’s the government for you.

On Tuesday we’ll get to see earnings out of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI). The estimates for the satellite radio company from First Call are -$0.13 EPS on $267.4 million in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are -$0.08 EPS on $280.23 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal 2008 are -$0.30 EPS on $1.25 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $3.00. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s 52-week trading range is $2.51 to $3.94.

Next Thursday we’ll get to see earnings out of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR). The estimates for the satellite radio company from First Call are -$0.64 EPS on $303.15 million in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are -$0.39 EPS on $314.98 million in revenues. Estimates for fiscal 2008 are -$1.62 EPS on $1.36 billion in revenues. Analysts have an average price target north of $14.00.  XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.’s 52-week trading range is $9.62 to $16.44.

We’ll break these earnings down more over the weekend or shortly before earnings.  If the government wants to throw a curve ball to Wall Street, it will announce its ruling on the merger on one of the earnings days or in between.  Over the last 90 days, SIRI shares are down some 15% or more and XMSR shares are down a slight bit less. 

Jon C. Ogg
February 22, 2008

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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