Pandora Reports Improving Financials

Pandora shares jumped more than 9 percent after reporting significant growth in subscription revenue.

According to CNBC, the music streaming company reported mixed fourth quarter financial results on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations for revenue, but missing on earnings by about 14 cents.

The company reported a 63 percent bump in subscription revenue, an important metric for the music streaming company, bringing the yearly total to $97.7 million. Pandora also tallied 5.48 million subscribers, a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

Pandora also announced intentions to invest $45 million into new growth initiatives, like ad-tech, non-music content, device integration and marketing technology, as it continues to build out its "Premium Access" on-demand services, to better compete with companies, like Spotify.

In the fourth quarter, Pandora reported a loss per share of 21 cents on $395 million in revenue. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting loss per share no greater than 7 cents on revenue of $376 million.

“Digital audio is on the verge of massive growth – music consumption is increasing, podcasts are gaining popularity and voice-activated devices are quickly becoming mainstream. Just like video, audio is transitioning from a one-to-many broadcast experience to a one-to-one model with personalization at the core. Pandora’s scale, listener engagement and data position us well to capitalize on these trends,” said Roger Lynch, CEO of Pandora, in a statement. Lynch took the helm at Pandora last year.