Satellite Radio Playground

by Demian Russian

Wunderlich Securities Media Analyst, Matthew Harrigan, will be discussing his thoughts on Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) and the company’s Q2 results in an exclusive, live interview on Playground Radio — tonight (Wednesday, August 11th, 2010) @ 8:00PM Eastern. Mr. Harrigan currently has a BUY rating and a $1.50 price target on SIRI.

Matthew Harrigan has fourteen years experience as an equity and high yield media analyst, focusing on both U.S. and international companies. He has been recognized multiple times on the Wall Street Journal Best on the Street compilation and was also an Institutional Investor ranked analyst for both Latin American media and for boutique coverage. Prior to joining Wunderlich Securities, Inc., Harrigan was a Senior Vice President at Ferris, Baker Watts and a Managing Director at Janco Partners. He was previously a Vice President at JP Morgan Securities and at Bear Stearns. Harrigan graduated with Distinction from The Wharton School with a concentration in International Finance and magna cum laude from Brown University where he was a Rhodes Scholarship Candidate. He worked in the International Capital Markets and Swap Derivatives areas at Salomon Brothers prior to attending graduate School at Wharton and at Stanford Law School.

Matthew Harrigan originally initiated coverage of Sirius XM Radio for Wunderlich Securities last January, with a BUY rating and a $1.00 price target. He then downgraded that to a HOLD in March, while still maintaining his $1.00 price target, over concerns with the OEM sector and the economy as a whole. Harrigan then raised his price target to $1.25 in May, the day before Sirius XM reported their Q1 results, while still maintaining his HOLD rating. Following Sirius XM’s second quarter results, Mr. Harrigan upgraded his rating on SIRI from HOLD to BUY and raised his price target from $1.25 to $1.50.

“After Q2 results it is more evident that SIRI can execute even in an ‘L’ shaped ‘recovery’ even if it cannot top out growth potential off a normal automotive SAAR rate.”

– Matthew Harrigan, Wunderlich Securities Media Analyst

In Harrigan’s upgrade report, he called Sirius XM’s Q2 growth and expense control “best-in class” and noted that “SIRI’s product continues to resonate with healthier higher-end consumers.” While modeling full-year 2010 vehicle sales to come in at 11.25 million, he noted that a 13 million run rate would raise his $1.50 2011-based price target to $2.00, and a 15 million run rate would raise his 2011-based price target to $2.65, assuming his “forecast for erosion to Pandora and other alternatives is in line.” Harrigan also noted in his report that CEO Mel Karmazin sounded “upbeat” when he volunteered during the Q2 conference call that a resolution regarding Howard Stern was expected before the company’s Q3 conference call. Read More