Key Financial Data
- Total revenue: $2.16 billion (-1% year-over)
- Net income: $297 million (-1%)
- EPS: $0.84
- SiriusXM revenue: $1.6 billion (-1%)
- SiriusXM ARPU: $15.19
- SiriusXM subscribers: 33 million (-1%)
- Pandora/off-platform revenue: $548 million (+1%)
- Pandora/off platform ad revenue: $416 million (+2%)
- Pandora subscriber revenue: $132 million (-2%)
- Pandora subscribers: 5.7 million (-3%)
- Pandora monthly active users: 41.6 million (-5%)
- Read more Q3 media earnings coverage
SiriusXM is stuck in a rut.
On Thursday, the satellite and streaming radio company released another financial report that showed its overall revenue dipped 1 percent during the third quarter (Q3) of the year, influenced mainly by its inability to draw new subscribers to its core service.
SiriusXM’s radio subscriber count has stalled at 33 million customers for the past few financial quarters, according to data reviewed by The Desk, and the radio company’s customer count has fallen somewhere between 30 million and 34 million subscribers over the past several years.
For a company that is trying to compete in an era of streaming audio and video options, that isn’t good, no matter how much its executives want to put a positive spin on things.
“This was a quarter of meaningful progress for SiriusXM,” Jennifer Witz, the CEO of SiriusXM, said in a statement on Thursday. “We’re enhancing the subscriber experience through new content, deeper personalization and continued innovation across the customer journey.”
The company’s flagship SiriusXM segment reported revenue of $1.6 billion, down one percent from last year.
Any customers SiriusXM added were erased by its subscriber churn, with 40,000 more customers cutting the cord than signing up for its satellite or streaming radio products. That said, the company’s churn rate was 1.6 percent, an improvement from last year, and its average revenue per user (ARPU) increased marginally to $15.19.
Despite proclamations over the past year, SiriusXM hasn’t made meaningful progress on most of its newer offerings. A free, ad-supported tier of SiriusXM is still only available to drivers with newer-model SiriusXM 360L radio tuners — and only after the free trials offered by their dealerships expire, without a customer converting into a paid subscriber.
A lighter, ad-supported subscription called SiriusXM Play has yet to roll out — SiriusXM’s website offered no way to sign up for the plan, despite being announced as a low-cost alternative to SiriusXM’s core, premium offerings three months ago. It isn’t clear when SiriusXM Play will actually hit the market.
The company’s higher ARPU during the quarter likely has more to do with its decision to ease up on some discount and retention offers made to new and long-time subscribers. Over the past few years, adept customers of SiriusXM have received special retention rates that are far lower than SiriusXM’s advertised prices, simply by calling with a threat to cancel their service.
These days, customers are finding those retention deals harder to come by, according to anecdotes shared online and reviewed by The Desk. Now, customer service agents are pointing prospective churners toward SiriusXM’s differentiated service plans, which start at $10 per month for access to commercial-free music channels and go up from there as subscribers tack on news, entertainment and sports channels.
Stock Price
Pandora and SiriusXM’s off-platform revenue grew one percent to $548 million, driven by a 2 percent increase in advertising to $416 million. Pandora’s self-pay subscribers declined 3 percent to 5.7 million, while monthly active users fell five percent to 41.6 million. Gross profit declined 9 percent to $170 million due to softer music advertising demand.
SiriusXM Chief Financial Officer Tom Barry said the company reduced debt by $120 million and returned $111 million to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.
“Our balanced approach drove solid margins while enabling meaningful investments in engagement and ad monetization,” Barry said.
SiriusXM raised its 2025 guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow by $25 million each, to $8.525 billion, $2.625 billion, and $1.225 billion, respectively.
