Sirius XM Adds More Subscribers Than Expected in Second Quarter

Sirius XM Radio said Monday that it added 622,042 net subscribers in the second quarter, a record since the merger that created the satellite radio firm.

The sub growth was better than most on Wall Street had expected and up 38 percent from the 452,147 net subscribers it had added in the year-ago quarter.

Overall, the company added more than 1 million net subscribers in the first half of 2012. At June 30, its subscriber total stood at more than 22.9 million.

Based on the upside surprise, the company increased its full-year 2012 subscriber and revenue guidance. Sirius XM now targets new subscriber growth to approach 1.6 million and revenue to approach $3.4 billion in 2012. 

"Our second-quarter subscriber gains mark a record quarter of net additions since the merger of Sirius and XM in July 2008," said CEO Mel Karmazin. "While we continue to be conservative in the face of a weak U.S. economic outlook, customers continue to embrace our unparalleled programming lineup, allowing us to raise subscriber guidance for the second time this year."

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett said the subscriber update beat "our Street-high estimate" of 495,000 net additions and a published consensus estimate of around 435,000. He called that "excellent second-quarter sub upside."
 

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai