Sirius Broadcasts Trivial Earnings, Elevates Guidance, Names CEO

Sirius XM Radio SIRI missed the mark on both first-quarter earnings and revenue, but is up after raising its free cash flow guidance. The New York City-based firm's EPS remained flat year-over-year at $0.02 and missed the Wall Street consensus of $0.03. Revenue climbed 11.5 percent to $897.4 million, but fell short of the $906 million analysts expected. Half-Million More Listeners Sirius' base grew by around two percent with a net gain of approximately 453,000 subscribers during the quarter. Over the past year, the world's largest radio broadcaster has netted over two million additional subscribers and now has 24.35 million listeners. Jim Meyer Keeps His Job Interim CEO Jim Meyer has been appointed CEO of the company, effective immediately. Meyer was previously president of sales and operations from May of 2004 until December of 2012, when he assumed the interim CEO role. A Stern Warning On April 11, Bloomberg reported that radio star Howard Stern lost an appeal to pump an extra $300 million out of Sirius for stock awards he felt he was owed. Unfortunately, while Sirius won the battle, it may lose the war. According to Examiner.com, Stern plans to leave Sirius in 2015 after his contract expires. He cited plants to “go off and somehow develop another company” and that “I got my game plan…I'll do my best for the next two years and then onward and upward”, as Examiner.com mentioned. Although his exact listener-base isn't clear, few would doubt Stern is still of considerable importance to the satellite radio company's prospects. According to Forbes, the self-described King of All Media attracts 1.2 to 1.7 million listeners. At the middle-ground of 1.45 million, he could take about six percent of Sirius' total customer base with him if he makes good on his promise. Sirius Cash Flow Sirius has raised its free cash flow guidance to approximately $915 million. Meanwhile, the company has reiterated its revenue estimate of over $3.7 billion. If this pans out, it will fall short of the $3.8 billion analysts want to see. Two-Month High Despite its weak first-quarter earnings, Sirius has performed well thus far as Tuesday trading gets underway. The stock has risen to around $3.25 as of this writing, apparently on word of its elevated guidance. It is at its highest point since early March. Sirius XM is up close to six percent on Tuesday.