SiriusXM Boosts Full-Year Sub Growth Target as Quarterly Earnings Rise

The home of Howard Stern now expects to add 1.6 million, instead of 1.4 million, subs after ending March with 30.1 million.

Satellite radio giant SiriusXM, which is controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media, on Thursday reported higher first-quarter earnings and raised its full-year subscriber growth target to 1.6 million after recently announcing that it crossed the 30-million-subscriber mark in the period.

The company reported quarterly earnings of $171 million, up 62 percent from the year-ago period, or 3 cents per share. Wall Street had on average forecast a profit of $159.3 million, or 3 cents per share. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, another profitability metric, hit $441 million, up 11 percent. Revenue for the first quarter jumped 11 percent to $1.2 billion, a first-quarter record for the company.

The home of Howard Stern previously said it added 465,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter, up from 431,000 in the year-ago period, to end March with 30.1 million subscribers. On Thursday, it boosted its full-year forecast for subscriber growth from 1.4 million previously.

Said SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer: "SiriusXM's results exceeded our expectations in the first quarter ... With excellent subscriber growth so early in the year, we are raising our guidance for full-year net subscriber additions to 1.6 million."

SiriusXM in 2015 added more than 2.28 million net new subscribers, the highest growth in net subscribers since 2007, before Sirius and XM merged.

Liberty Media recently created three stocks to track different businesses it owns: SiriusXM, the Atlanta Braves and its other assets.