Pandora Pops 5% After Reporting Stronger-Than-Anticipated Q2 Profit Of $0.05 Per Share

After the bell, digital radio service Pandora reported its second quarter performance, generating an adjusted $0.05 per share on revenue of $285.6 million. The street had expected Pandora to generate a slim $0.02 per-share profit on top line of $283 million.

Following its earnings beat, shares of Pandora are up around 5 percent in after-hours trading. The company’s equity spiked higher than that in the immediate aftermath of its report, before ceding some ground to a slower plateau.

The company posted 30 percent year-over-year revenue gains, and 37 percent more total mobile revenue during the period. Interestingly, those figures contrast with a slim 5 percent growth in listening hours — a vanity metric to bring down the house — during the period.

Pandora guided investors that it expects revenue of $310 million and $315 million during its current quarter, leading to a very, very non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of between $25 million and $30 million. Analysts, before today’s report, had expected the company to earn $0.10 per share, using adjusted techniques, on revenue of $309.2 million.

For comparison, Pandora’s adjusted EBITDA in its now-reported quarter was a slimmer $16.3 million. Pandora wrapped its second quarter with $461.5 million in cash, down around $20 million from the year-ago period.

Pandora faces stiff competition from its traditional rivals Spotify and iTunes, and also newer entrants like Apple Music. Still, for today, Pandora is up, and its investors content.