SiriusXM Radio Facing Financial Headwinds

Recent financial updates and market reactions suggest SiriusXM is facing significant challenges that have impacted its revenue and stock performance, which might be interpreted as a collapse in certain contexts.

SiriusXM has been navigating a tough period marked by declining subscriber numbers and revenue pressures. For the full year of 2024, the company reported total revenue of approximately $8.7 billion, a 3% decrease from $8.96 billion in 2023. This decline was driven largely by a 4% drop in subscriber revenue within its core SiriusXM segment, which fell to $6.6 billion from $6.88 billion the previous year. The company lost 296,000 self-pay subscribers in 2024, though this was an improvement over the 445,000 lost in 2023, thanks to some recovery in the fourth quarter. 

Meanwhile, its Pandora and off-platform segment saw a modest 2% revenue increase to $2.15 billion, buoyed by growth in podcasting and advertising, but this wasn’t enough to offset the broader downturn.

Jennifer Witz

For 2025, SiriusXM has projected further revenue erosion, forecasting $8.5 billion—a drop of about 2% from 2024’s $8.675 billion guidance. This downward revision, announced in December 2024, disappointed Wall Street, leading to a sharp stock decline. Shares of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. fell as much as 9.8% on December 10, 2024, after the company issued this outlook, which fell short of analyst expectations. By the end of 2024, the stock had already slid 53% year-to-date, underperforming the S&P 500’s 28% gain. This stock drop reflects investor concerns over stagnant growth and "marketplace headwinds," as noted by CEO Jennifer Witz.

Several factors contribute to these challenges. The company’s core in-car subscription business, which accounts for 90% of its subscribers, has been hit by a softening automotive market. Fewer new and used car sales mean fewer trial subscriptions, a key funnel for converting listeners to paying customers.

 Additionally, SiriusXM’s 2023 streaming app launch, intended to attract younger users and compete with Spotify, failed to deliver the hoped-for growth. By late 2024, the company pivoted away from this strategy, refocusing on its in-car base and cutting marketing for the "high-cost, high-churn" streaming audience. Advertising revenue also remained flat in 2024, adding to the pressure, and posts on X from early March 2025 suggest ongoing softness in ad sales may have further spooked investors.

In response, SiriusXM has implemented aggressive cost-cutting. It delivered $350 million in savings across 2023 and 2024 and plans to slash an additional $200 million in annualized costs by the end of 2025.