By Tom Taylor
The following article comes from Tom Taylor’s newsletter, Taylor on Radio-Info.
Pandora’s IPO could value it at close to $1 billion.
Forbes looks at Pandora’s more than 80 million registered users and its prospects in mobile advertising, online advertising and subscriptions – and decides the valuation could be as high as $984 million. And that’s for a company that expects to have operating losses through fiscal 2012 and almost went bellyup three years ago, before the licensing fee problem was resolved.
Another thing Forbes nods approvingly at — Pandora’s aggressive partnering with automakers, so Pandora lights right up when you turn on the key of a new car. Forbes also cites the rapid adoption of Pandora’s mobile app — and that’s the gateway to the car, as users plop their smartphones into a cradle in the Ford (NYSE:F) Sync or Toyota Motors (NYSE:TM) Entune system.
Earlier this week, Pandora filed a revised S-1 registration with the SEC (here). One of the new elements is a chart of “active users.” Over the last three years, those have risen by roughly a factor of ten, to just shy of 30 million. No indication when the Initial Public Offering will pop – but the revised filing suggests it’s getting closer.
Tom Taylor is the Executive News Editor at Radio-Info.com.
Contact the Author: tom@in3media.com
Oh please. This is a dead on arrival company. $1B for a company that is really an FM company online, advertising like free radio. Worst, they don’t have a dedicated delivery system. You must have broadband, wired or unwired to listen, unlike a $20 radio and u get FM. So why would I PAY to get internet to get free radio when I can listen to the same thing on FM. But oh, there’s customization. Wippy! Thats worth $1B?
Didn’t Immemb and a few other “internet radio” companies already fold? Pandora. I’m going to Short the crap out that stock when it IPOs. I’ll ride it into bankruptcy. So 80M ppl use it? Really. NO. 80M registered. How many ppl do you know listen to Pandora? How often are they listening?
Answer that and it’ll tell you think companies going no where. Yet, how many people do you know on SiriusXM. I bet you know people, or have SiriusXM yourself in your car.
That’s funny I have 5 account myself with the BIG P. How many accounts do you have?
Why would you have 5 accounts? I have 1 I barely ever use. So yeah, I’m 1 of the 80M but the last time I used it was late 2010. Which is exactly my point, even if you know someone that has it, how many are actively using it?
On the other hand, I listen to SiriusXM almost daily. Got the home kit. I turn that sucker on and let blast for hours.
What a GREAT short pandora will be.
I am long SIRI XM, but I don’t agree with the argument that people won’t pay for internet so they can get radio in their car because it misses the point. People will pay for internet because of the many benefits the internet offers, including radio.
While I still believe SIRI XM is superior for many other reasons, the argument that people won’t pay for internet to get radio is not one of them.
Unless someone comes up with a better, cheaper, more reliable, cost efficient delivery system of content and data, I’M NOT SELLING!
Dumped cable and I use Sirius, Sirius App, Netflix and Apple TV with Air Play beaming my Sirius App to my home system.
Can’t put a price on FREE SPEECH RADIO/SIRIUS