Pandora tumbled almost 9% on the stock market Wednesday. And then it bounced back over 6% after the day ended.
The music streaming business, which has had a terrible past year on the stock market, surprised investors when it revealed a 63% rise in subscription revenue, totaling $97.7 million. Subscribers also jumped 25%, to 5.48 million.
Overall revenue was $395 million, beating Wall Street’s expectation of $376 million. Earnings per share missed, however. The company reported a loss of 21 cents per share, whereas analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were predicting a loss of no more than 7 cents per share.
“Digital audio is on the verge of massive growth – music consumption is increasing, podcasts are gaining popularity and voice-activated devices are quickly becoming mainstream. Just like video, audio is transitioning from a one-to-many broadcast experience to a one-to-one model with personalization at the core. Pandora’s scale, listener engagement and data position us well to capitalize on these trends,” said Roger Lynch, CEO of Pandora, in a statement. Lynch took the helm at Pandora last year.
Pandora, which was an early pioneer in internet radio, has faced increased competition from Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify is getting ready to go public in the U.S. in the coming months.
Pandora went public in 2011, pricing shares at $16. The company saw highs above $37 per share in 2014, but has been trading below $5 since late last year.
