The results suggest that the company, run by media industry veteran Mel Karmazin, has solidified and is set to grow. Just a year ago, it flirted with bankruptcy as it faced a hefty debt load and weak auto sales.
Sirius shares, which have risen more than 20-fold from a year ago when it traded as low as 5 cents a share, were at $1.07 on Thursday afternoon. Analysts and investors are re-evaluating shares of Sirius, whose market capitalization is now about $4.2 billion.
Born of the 2008 merger that united rivals Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, Sirius XM has been resurgent after receiving a life-saving loan in February 2009 from Liberty Media. The transaction bought Liberty head John Malone a 40 percent equity stake in Sirius XM.
The merger brought the combined companies a total of more than 18.5 million subscribers based on current subscriber numbers on the date of merging, and the company finished 2009 with 18,772,758 subs.
Sirius XM battles competition from (free) digital terrestrial radio, portable media players, and Internet radio, such as Pandora and Slacker that also offer customized on-line listening on various handheld devices, including the iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
1 comment:
GO Sirius !!! If you like Sirius XM then see their “rags to riches” story on DVD. The movie is called “Stock Shock” and it goes over the history, development, and near-death experience of the stock. I did not know the inventor of sirius xm was a woman!–well she is now, at least. DVD is cheaper at http://www.stockshockmovie.com , but the DVD is pretty much everywhere for sale or rent.
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