Pandora is shopping itself around - and the stock is soaring on the news

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Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews

Pandora

Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews.

Pandora, the streaming pioneer and biggest internet radio service, has held talks about selling itself, according to The New York Times.

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Pandora stock popped over 10% immediately following the news.

Pandora is said to be using Morgan Stanley to scope out potential buyers. The Times, however, stresses that these talks are preliminary.

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Pandora's stock has plummeted the past few months, and its executives have lashed out at rivals in the streaming industry for creating an unsustainable business environment by burning capital. Pandora, unlike rivals like Spotify, is a public company and has to answer to shareholders. The company has lost 60% of its value since October, according to The Times.

Pandora is a company in transition. Two recent high-profile acquisitions suggest it wants to break beyond "internet radio," and especially into on-demand streaming, which would put it into more direct competition with Spotify and Apple Music. Last November, Pandora bought key assets of embattled streaming service Rdio for $75 million, and the company has said these are critical to its plans to move into the on-demand arena.

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Pandora will report its Q4 earnings today. Here's what Wall Street is expecting, according to Bloomberg:

  • Adjusted EPS: 6 cents
  • Revenue: $341.6 million
  • Gross Margin: 50.45%

Here is a chart of Pandora's stock bump:

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