(Reuters) – SiriusXM trimmed its full-year revenue forecast on Thursday as it expected slower growth in paying users for its content that includes the Howard Stern show, sending the company’s shares down 4.2% before the bell.
SiriusXM now expects full-year revenue of about $8.68 billion, lower than its previous forecast of about $8.75 billion.
The company’s self-pay subscribers increased by about 14,000 in the third quarter, compared to a decrease of 96,000 a year ago. Analysts at Visible Alpha were estimating a decrease of about 47,390 subscribers.
Its third-quarter churn, which is the rate of customers who stopped using its services, was 1.6% among self-pay users, consistent with a year ago.
Paid promotional subscribers declined by about 114,000, which the company attributed to certain automakers transitioning to unpaid or shorter-term paid promotional plans.
SiriusXM’s quarterly revenue of $2.17 billion came in marginally below estimates of $2.19 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Of that, advertising revenue of $450 million was also below analysts’ average expectation of $465.7 million.
The company reported a quarterly net loss of $2.96 billion, which included a non-cash impairment charge of about $3.36 billion related to the Liberty Media transaction.
Last month, the company began trading under a new structure after billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media completed a merger of its business that holds a majority stake in the radio company with the rest of SiriusXM.
SiriusXM’s free cash flow fell to $93 million in the quarter from $291 million a year ago. It had earlier cut its full-year free cash flow forecast by more than 16% to $1 billion.
(Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)