Why Pandora Is Getting Slammed After Earnings

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results after markets closed Thursday. For the quarter, the Internet radio company posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.04 on revenues of $336.16 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.18 on revenues of $268 million. Fourth-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate for EPS of $0.07 on $331.83 million in revenues.

For the full year adjusted EPS totaled $0.09 and revenues of $1.16 billion compared with 2014 EPS of $0.20 and revenues of $920.8 million, including a subscription reserve of $14.19 million last year. Analysts had been looking for EPS of $0.11 on revenues of $1.16 billion.

In the closely watched metric of active listeners, Pandora reported 81.1 million active users at the end of December 2015 compared with 81.5 million at the end of 2014. Listener hours totaled 5.37 billion in the quarter up 3% from 5.2 billion in the same period a year ago. That active listener number alone could drag down the share price, but the profit outlook is not pretty either.

For the first quarter, Pandora is guiding revenue revenue at $280 to $290 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss in a range of $65 to $75 million. For the full 2016 fiscal year, Pandora said it expects revenue in a range of $1.4 to $1.42 billion and an adjusted EBITDA loss in a range of $60 to $80 million.

Analysts were looking for a first quarter net loss of $0.16 and revenues of $284.1 million. For the full year analysts expect EPS of $0.06 and revenues of $1.42 billion.

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The company’s CEO, Brian McAndrews, said:

We enter 2016 with an enhanced portfolio of assets, cost certainty and substantial competitive advantages. We’re invested in the long-term and I could not have more conviction about the ability of Pandora to lead the future of music. Given our confidence in our core advertising model, the massive long-term opportunity and the competitive advantages we have built, we believe 2016 is the time to build on this foundation and invest in our many opportunities to fuel revenue acceleration in 2017 and bolster long-term growth prospects.

A late report Thursday from The New York Times cited sources who said that Pandora has held discussions about selling itself. That sent shares up by about 6% and added to the daily share price boost of 8.2%. Pandora did not comment on the report, but expect some questions on the conference call.

Shares traded down about 6.4% in the after-hours market at $8.51 after closing at $9.09. The stock’s 52-week range is $7.37 to $22.60. The consensus target price for the shares was $18.64 before today’s report.