“One of the perils of being a successful company is that you begin to attract quite a bit of attention. Sirius XM (SIRI), which has dominated the premium radio market over the past couple of years – reaching almost 25 million subscribers, is no exception,” StockSaints writes for Seeking Alpha. “Apple (AAPL) wants some of this success. The question, though, is what does this mean for Sirius XM investors when Apple enters the market. If you noticed, I didn’t say ‘if.'”
“Apple’s entry into the realm of music streaming is not news and has been rumored for some time. However, what is noteworthy here is the possible date of the announcement. We feel it will come in June at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC),” StockSaints writes. “The growth of both Sirius and Pandora has enticed Apple. Companies don’t often enter markets if they don’t believe there’s profit potential. Apple is about cash production. And unlike Pandora, Sirius is raking in tons of it. Plus Apple knows from its own growth in iTunes, which grew market share by 63%, that music lovers still have an insatiable appetite for their audio. But here again, unlike both Pandora and iTunes, Sirius, by virtue of its premium offering is the standard.”
“To that end, Apple should make a bid for Sirius,” StockSaints writes. “Given that Sirius has almost 25 million subscribers, of which 20 million are self-paying, Apple is looking at a potential goldmine. First, Apple will want to differentiate itself from Pandora. Given all of the copyrights-related litigation that Apple has tossed at Samsung, Apple will want to look and feel different… Apple can use Sirius’ strong subscriber numbers to monetize the platform. Apple wants to up-sell. Sirius already has 20 million people that have demonstrated they are willing to pay. Plus, Apple now has access to Sirius’ affluent demographic that will be exposed to more Apple products.”
StockSaints writes, “Given Sirius’ current market cap of $21.5 billion and trading at $3.40 per share, an offer of $4.50 might close the deal. But would Sirius investors accept? Plus, Apple would have to get the approval of Liberty Media (LMCA), Sirius XM’s majority shareholder. I think Liberty would take it. So would I.”
Read more in the full article here.
