Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P)
Pandora Media, Inc. (P), a music delivery platform company yesterday announced that they expect to exceed their fourth quarter 2016 guidance numbers. Pandora said they expect to beat both their revenue and earnings per share numbers for fourth quarter 2016. Pandora stated that due to increased subscriptions they feel they will beat their fourth quarter projections. Pandora also announced they plan to reduce their employee base by 7% which they feel will create better operational efficiency.
Pandora Media, Inc. CEO’s Comments
“During the fourth quarter, we accelerated our core advertising business, increased advertising RPM and saw strong improvements in adjusted EBITDA,” said Tim Westergren, CEO of Pandora. “Now, with all of the elements of our strategy in place, we are in the best position possible to expand our listener base, drive engagement and deliver significant value to all of our stakeholders. The initial response from both new and existing listeners to the enhancements on the service is extremely encouraging,” Westergren continues. “This excitement and engagement bodes well for the introduction of Pandora Premium later this quarter. 2016 was a year of significant investment for Pandora. In 2017, we will manage the business toward full year adjusted EBITDA profitability,” said Westergren. “While making workforce reductions is always a difficult decision, the commitment to cost discipline will allow us to invest more heavily in product development and monetization and build on the foundations of our strategic investments.” Business Wire
P Technical Analysis
P opened trading yesterday at $11.65 which was down from the previous day’s trading close of $11.89. Shares closed trading yesterday at $12.00 and spiked up after market to $12.94, equivalent to a 8% increase from the closing price. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see that the last time P traded above these levels we have to go back to January 5th when it traded at $13.01.
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike up P had been in an overall downward trend dating back to December 7th, 2016 when it traded at $13.85. P has a float of 228.78 million shares and traded below the normal daily trading volume on Thursday. For trading purposes, I would like to see P open trading on Friday above $12.65 and if it does I would be looking to take a long position at the bell. My stop loss would be $0.15 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
Pandora Media, Inc. (Pandora), incorporated on October 19, 2010, is a music discovery platform, offering a personalized experience for each of its listeners wherever and whenever they want to listen to music, whether through earbuds, car speakers or live on stage. The Company delivers targeted messages to its listeners using a combination of audio, display and video advertisements. The Company provides services, including Pandora and Ticketfly. It provides the Pandora service through over two models, such as free service and Pandora One.
The Company’s free service is advertising-supported and allows listeners access to its music and comedy catalogs and personalized playlist generating system for free across all of the Pandora delivery platforms. Pandora One is a paid subscription service without any advertising. In addition to its monthly subscriptions, service listeners can purchase a single day Pandora One experience with its Pandora One Day Pass product. The Company competes with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), MSN, Pinterest, Instagram, iHeartRadio, Beats 1 Radio, LastFM, Spotify, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), YouTube, Slacker, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Rhapsody, Deezer, Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Entercom and Cumulus.