Friday, August 26, 2011

Pandora forecast - Partially Cloudy

Revenues for online music streamer Pandora over the last quarter were twice that of the same quarter last year.  Pandora earnings of $67 million also surpassed analysts' predictions.  However, Pandora also reported a loss of $3.2 million for the quarter, eight times the reported loss a year ago.  Pandora's revenues, still primarily from advertising, reflected a doubling of total listening hours.  If you consider Pandora as a radio station, it would account for 3.6% of all U.S. radio listening.  An increasing proportion of that is coming from mobile.  Research from comScore showed that, in June, 42% of Pandora's audience traffic came from mobile devices, and that a greater number of monthly visitors to Pandora sites came through mobile phones and tablets than from home or work PCs.  These numbers, though, don't really reflect the entry of European music service Spotify,, which began US service last month.
Looking ahead, Pandora expects continued, if perhaps slower, growth - and that losses will continue until online advertising matures.  Wall Street analysts are a bit more pessimistic, citing the entry of Spotify, Pandora's reliance on a ad-based business model, and concerns about increased uncertainty about the effects of a possible economic downturn or recession.

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