What to Expect From Pandora Earnings

The company is clearly not the only one with a big desire to be in the music streaming business, but it is the current leader in installation and use in the automotive world, with a penetration rate right at 70%, and it hopes to stay that way.

The analysts at Cowen point out that while the webcasting royalty hearings at the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington continues to be an overhang for Pandora’s stock, investors are looking for strong user and local ad growth to continue to drive revenues for the company.

The Cowen analysts are careful to point out that an earnings miss or poor guidance could take at least a temporary toll, but it should continue to be a growth leader going forward in 2015 and beyond. Cowen puts a $23 price target on the stock, implying a large upside of 30.8% from current prices.

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The stock market may have recently hit all-time highs, but shares of Pandora were hitting 52-week lows as recently as February. A new research report from Canaccord Genuity signals that the bottom may have been seen — or at least that Pandora’s future is much brighter than its stock trading may have indicated.

Pandora’s analyst day pointed to the company being much larger in the next five years. The firm called it refreshingly content rich and signaled that management has broken new ground on key strategic initiatives for the next five years. This included moving past radio into other types of music, new ways to grow the listener base, a sharper focus on international expansion and also developing a suite of products and services aimed at making Pandora a more effective partner for music makers.

Canaccord’s $28 price target — implying 59.2% upside — is based on some high valuations, compared to other more established stocks. It was said to be based on 40 times the firm’s fiscal year 2016 operating earnings per share of $0.69. For a comparison, the consensus 2016 earnings per share estimate from Thomson Reuters is only $0.51, so a consensus estimate and a $28 valuation would dictate a 2016 implied price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio ahead of about 55.

Shares of Pandora were up fractionally at $17.58 Thursday morning. The company’s stock has a consensus analyst price target of $21.50 and a 52-week trading range of $14.50 to $30.48.

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