Pandora bulls are stampeding. Goldman Sachs issued an investor report which projected a potential doubling of stock value. Unsurprisingly, the stock jumped. It had been trading near a recently-gained all-time high level since January 15, so yesterday’s movement vaulted P stock well into uncharted territory, and into a new valuation realm with a $7-billion market capitalization.
Let’s review the past 10 week. On November 13 we noted that Pandora broke the $5B market-cap ceiling. On January 7, following a CES-wekk announcement that the company would introduce a new advertising stream into cars where Pandora is built in, P stock leaped above the $6B market-cap level. So, in about 10 weeks Pandora’s public value has grown approximately two-billion dollars (specifics fluctuate constantly, of course), or 40 percent of it $5B market cap in November.
The stock tripled in value during 2013.
Goldman’s bullish prediction is reportedly keyed to two points: Pandora’s growth of local advertising to a 50% mix of total advertising, and an increase in the number of ad spots per hour. Pandora has built out a local, on-the-ground sales force in at at least 30 markets across the U.S. On the question of ad load, there is room for more commercials while maintaining a clear differentiation from broadcast radio’s commercial load.