Despite the loss, SiriusXM’s Q4 revenue was up 8% to $1.4 billion for a 2017 revenue total of $5.4 billion, also an increase of 8%. CEO Jim Meyer was very happy with the results. “The fourth quarter capped a strong year for SiriusXM and was our best quarter for self-pay subscriber growth in five years. We exceeded all of our 2017 subscriber and financial guidance, even after increasing these targets during the year. I am particularly pleased that we achieved this growth in an environment of slowing auto sales.”
Meyer told investors Wednesday that SiriusXM executed extremely well in 2017. “We have once again set record-high watermarks for subscribers, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. Our business model remains unmatched in its ability to maintain high EBITDA margins and to convert that EBITDA into free cash flow that we can invest to grow our business, make external investments, or deploy for the benefit of our stockholders.
The company added 527,000 net new self-pay subscribers in the fourth quarter and 1.56 million in 2017 to end the year with approximately 27.5 million self-pay subscribers. Total net additions in the fourth quarter and full-year were 569,000 and 1.39 million respectively, taking the company’s total subscriber count to approximately 32.7 million at year-end.
Meyer said he expects about 1 million self-pay net additions in 2018, $5.7 billion in revenue, $2.15 billion of adjusted EBITDA, and another $1.5 billion of free cash flow.
SiriusXM reported a Q4 loss of $37 million, compared to $205 million in earnings a year earlier. Q4 2017 included a $185 million charge “associated with the revaluation of the company’s deferred tax assets as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” And, a $72 million decrease was recorded for the “fair value of its investment in Pandora.”
