Pandora has reported its financial results for the Internet radio service's fiscal third quarter of 2013, with an impressive increase in revenue. However, a cautious guidance for the company's fourth quarter caused Pandora stocks to fall late Tuesday.
For Pandora's fiscal Q3, total revenue was up 60 percent to $120 million. Advertising revenue was $106.3 million, a 61 percent year-over-year increase, while subscription and other revenue was $13.7 million, a 52 percent increase. The company ended the quarter with $80.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, compared with $82.3 million at the end of the prior quarter.
Total listener hours grew 67 percent to 3.56 billion for the third quarter of Pandora's fiscal 2013, compared to 2.12 billion a year earlier.
"This quarter exceeded our expectations as we monetized mobile at record levels and grew total mobile revenue 112 percent," stated Joe Kennedy, Pandora Chairman/CEO. "During the quarter we launched Pandora 4.0, the biggest redesign on the iOS and Android platforms ever, bringing new, innovative and enhanced functionality to mobile devices for the first time for both users and advertisers."
Pandora's Q4 guidance predicts revenue to be between $120-123 million, with the company's fiscal full year revenue for 2013 between $422-425 million. However, Pandora also predicted a loss of between 6-9 cents per share in its fiscal Q4, missing Wall Street predictions. Late yesterday, Pandora stocks dropped over 20 percent in price, losing as much as $2/share at one point, down to $7.45. As of 11:30 a.m. today, Pandora was trading at $7.80/share.
Kennedy told Billboard.biz that the company was cautious in its guidance due to concerns about the U.S. economy and the potential effects of the "fiscal cliff."