SiriusXM posts increases in advertising and subscription revenues in Q2 2021

By Emmanuel Legrand

SiriusXM, the audio distribution platform which includes satellite audio service SiriusXM and online streaming platform Pandora, posted revenue of $2.16 billion in the second quarter of 2021, a 15% increase compared to the prior year period.  

  The company recorded net income of $433m in Q2 2021, compared to $243 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter was $700m, up 14% from $615m in Q2 2019 in the prior year period.  

  "SiriusXM added an impressive 355,000 net new self-pay subscribers in the quarter, putting us on track to add 1.1 million self-pay subscribers this year – our best since 2018 – and we are increasing all of our financial guidance," said Jennifer Witz, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, who added that during the quarter, the company experienced an increase in ad revenue of 82% from the prior year period and 20% from the second quarter of 2019. 

Increase in advertising revenue

  SiriusXM's service added 355,000 net new self-pay subscribers in the second quarter, a 34% increase from the 264,000 added in the second quarter of 2020. At the same time, paid promotional subscribers decreased by 378,000. 

  Total subscribers at the end of the second quarter were 34.5 million, an increase of 1% year-on-year, including 31.4 million self-paid subscribers. SiriusXM revenue increased 7% to $1.64bn and gross profit was up 5% to $996m. 

  Pandora's total revenue reached $516m, with advertising revenue increasing by 82% to $383m during the second quarter and subscription revenue up to $133m from $125m, up 6%. Pandora posted a gross profit of $193m, up 176% over the second quarter of 2020.

  Pandora's total Monthly Active Users (MAUs) at Pandora were down to 55.1 million in the second quarter of 2021, down 7% from 59.6 million in the same period a year ago. Pandora added 118,000 net new self-pay subscribers to its Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services in the second quarter 2021 to end the period with 6.5 million self-pay subscribers to those services. 

Shaping the future business of audio

  Witz said SiriusXM's collaboration with short-video app TikTok is now live with Pandora playlists on this massive social platform, and a new SiriusXM channel powered by TikTok is "coming soon." 

  She added: "SiriusXM is also shaping the future business of audio by introducing SXM Media.  SXM Media now serves as our new cross-platform advertising sales organisation, a one stop shop for brands to gain access to our large base of 150 million digital listeners across SiriusXM, Pandora, Stitcher, and other publishers."  

  The company disclosed that for the full-year 2021, it expects to have self-pay net subscriber additions of approximately 1.1 million, with total revenue of approximately $8.550bn, and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $2.67bn.

Certainty on royalty rates

  Speaking to analysts, SiriusXM's CFO Sean Sullivan welcome the recent disclosure of the Web V rate determination that sets how much the platform has to pay to right holders. "We now have certainty on the bulk of our streaming royalty rates through 2025," said Sullivan. 

  Sirius XM paid during the quarter $387m in revenue share and royalties, up from $365m for the same period a year before, while Pandora paid $275m, up from $224m a year ago.