Pandora gets a lift as subscriber gains boost quarterly sales

Pandora reported better- than- expected first- quarter results Thursday as the internet radio company showed solid gains in monthly subscribers of its paid musicstreaming services.

Pandora said it ended the quarter with 5.63 million subscribers to its Pandora Plus and Pandora Platinum paid services, which was 19 percent higher than the same period a year ago. With the increase in subscribers, Pandora said its subscription revenue climbed by 63 percent from last year’s first quarter, to $104.7 million.

Sales from advertising slipped by 3.9 percent to $214.6 million, but the company is expecting its recent acquisition of ad-tech company AdsWizz to improve its advertising sales through the rest of the year.

“We’re entering a new era of audio that frames almost everything we are do- ing,” said Pandora Chief Executive Roger Lynch, on a conference call to discuss Pandora’s results. “Audience growth is importance to us, and it’s an opportunity for us. I like that we have a balanced model between advertising and subscriptions.”

Pandora reported a loss of 27 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on total revenue of $319.2 million, which topped the estimates of Wall Street analysts, who had forecast the company to lose 38 cents a share on $304.3 million in sales.

“Digital audio still has room to grow,” said Pandora Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra, who added that the company expects its newgrowth initiatives to in- crease beyond 2018.

The results boosted Pandora’s shares, which rose about 7.7 percent, to $6.19, in after-hours trading.

For its second quarter, Pandora is forecasting revenue to be in a range of $360 million to $375 million.