Pandora's revenue misses estimates, shares drop

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue on Thursday as fewer listeners spent time on the online streaming service, sending the company's shares down 5.5 percent in trading after the bell.

Total listener hours were 5.15 billion in the third quarter, compared with 5.40 billion hours a year ago.

The company faces stiff competition from deep-pocketed rivals such as Apple Inc's Apple Music, Alphabet's Google Play Music and Sweden's Spotify.

Pandora, in which SiriusXM Holdings Inc has invested $480 million and has a 15.9 percent stake, said advertising revenue rose nearly 1 percent to $275.7 million, accounting for about 73 percent of total revenue.

That missed analysts' average estimate of $289.3 million, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.

Total revenue rose 7.6 percent to $378.6 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Pandora's net loss available to common stockholders increased to $84.6 million, or 34 cents per share, in the quarter, from $61.5 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.

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Excluding items, it posted a loss of 6 cents per share.

Analysts on average had expected a loss of 8 cents per share and revenue of $380.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.