SiriusXM Gains 169,000 Subs In Q3; Net Income Up 11%, Despite Ad Decline

The SiriusXM audio streaming service saw 169,000 net self-pay subscriber additions in the third quarter, following its addition of 264,000 in Q2, bringing its total subscribers to 30.4 million, parent SiriusXM Holdings reported.

Self-pay monthly churn was 1.7%, the same as in Q3 2019. 

The service raised its guidance on full-year net subscriber additions from 500,000 to 800,000.

The service’s overall monthly average revenue per unit rose 2% compared to Q3 2019 due to a 3% subscription ARPU gain, despite a decline in advertising ARPU. 

The higher ARPU and a larger self-pay subscriber base versus the year ago period drove revenue increases and offset the effects of a lower paid trial subscriber base compared to Q3 2019.

SiriusXM total revenue for the quarter was up 1% versus the year-ago quarter, to $1.6 billion, due to an increase in subscriber revenue that offset a decline in ad revenue.

Ad revenue declined 23.5%, to $39 million, while subscriber revenue rose 26.7%, to $1.46 billion.

New car penetration rate increased 78%, up 500 basis points year-over-year.

Total gross profit was up 1%, to $979 million, and gross profit margin was flat, at 62%. Third quarter net income rose 11%, to $272 million. The company raised SiriusXM’s full-year revenue guidance from $7.7 billion to $7.85 billion and adjusted EBITDA from $2.4 billion to $2.475 billion.

The company raised SiriusXM’s full-year revenue guidance from $7.7 billion to $7.85 billion and adjusted EBITDA from $2.4 billion to $2.475 billion. 

At Pandora, Q3 ad revenue declined 2.9%, to $306 million, and subscriber revenue was flat, at $132 million. Gross profit declined 4%.Pandora’s monthly active users were 58.6 million, down from 63.1 million in the year-ago period. Total ad supported listener hours were 3.12 billion, down from 3.32 billion. Average monthly listening hours per active ad-supported user rose 1.8% to 19.5, up from 19.1. 

Pandora added 105,000 net new self-pay subscribers to its Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services, to end the period with nearly 6.4 million self-pay subscribers for those services. Paid promotional subscribers were flat at 43,000.

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