Sirius Sat Radio Raises Own Bar -- Expects 'Blowout' 4Q05 (SIRI 3Q05 Conf Call Quotes)

Sirius Satellite Radio (ticker: SIRI) -- the nation's #2 sat radio provider behind XM -- reported a quarterly loss inline with expectations, but upbeat guidance on 4Q05 has sent the stock up about 8% since. Key data points and quotes from the SIRI conference call:

Earnings: Loss of $180.5 million (3Q04: Loss of $169.4 million)

Revenue: $66.8 million (3Q04: $19.1 million)

Subscriber base: 2.2 million (XM Satellite Radio: 5 million)

Cost per new subscriber: $149 (3Q04 $229)

Expects cash-flow positive in 2007 or 'possibly' in 4Q06

Announced a renewal of its exclusive deal with DaimlerChrysler for factory installs.

Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin commented on 4Q05 and OEM deals with car makers:

Looking forward we are anticipating a blowout fourth quarter. Many of our next generation products are in the stores now and others will be hitting the shelves by Thanksgiving…

The indications are that Howard Stern is going to significantly contribute toward our picking up market share in the most important months of the year. We also believe our momentum will continue into '06. We will obviously take advantage of the interest in satellite radio for the holiday season and will very, very aggressively be promoting Sirius and Howard Stern…

As you saw yesterday with our extraordinary announcement with DaimlerChrysler, we have now extended our exclusives OEM deals with Ford, BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Mercedes for long-term and financially very beneficial relationships. Our exclusive partners account for approximately 40% of all cars manufactured for sale in the U.S. and we continue to have other opportunities with companies like Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi and Penske for them to deliver subscribers to us as well… our job on the OEM front is to continue to provide Satellite Radio to as many of the OEM customers so that they don't have to buy it in retail.

(Quotes are from the CCBN StreetEvents transcript.)

Related:

• XM Satellite Radio’s Subscriber Base, Net Losses Grow (XMSR 3Q05 Conf Call Quotes)
• All Consumer Electronics Stock Blog articles on home and car audio.
• The complete list of companies (and links to articles about them) covered by The Consumer Electronics Stock Blog.