Shares of Pandora Media Inc., the Internet radio pioneer, rose as much as 17 percent in extended trading Wednesday after first-quarter results exceeded analysts’ estimates on higher mobile advertising sales.
Pandora jumped to as high as $12.05 after reporting a first-quarter loss of 9 cents a share, excluding items, smaller than the 18-cent loss forecast by 18 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Sales rose 58 percent to $80.8 million, beating the forecast of $74.5 million.
Of the $70.6 million in advertising sales in the period, 55 percent stemmed from mobile devices, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Kennedy said in an interview. The top 50 biggest digital marketers in the U.S. are now advertising on Pandora’s mobile and desktop services, he said.
“We’re excited about continued progress on mobile monetization,” Kennedy said. “It’s the highest percentage it has ever been.”
The company forecasts second-quarter revenue of $99 million to $101 million and a per-share loss of 3 cents to 5 cents, excluding items. Analysts project $100.5 million in sales and a loss of 3 cents.
For the year, Pandora sees $420 million to $427 million in revenue, with a loss of 7 cents to 11 cents a share, excluding items. Analysts were predicting a loss of 16 cents on revenue of $416.2 million.
Pandora reported a net loss of $20.2 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a loss of $9.14 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, before the company’s initial public offering.
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