NEW YORK (AP) — Sirius XM Radio boosted its full-year revenue outlook Monday, saying that its subscriber base is growing faster than expected.
The New York satellite radio company now expects 2012 revenue to approach $3.4 billion, up from its previous prediction of $3.3 billion. Analysts, on average, expect $3.36 billion in revenue for the year, according to a FactSet poll.
Sirius expects its net new subscriber growth to approach 1.6 million, up from its previous prediction of about 1.5 million.
The company added 622,042 net subscribers in the second quarter of 2012, up 38 percent from the 452,147 net subscribers it added in the same quarter a year ago. In the first half of the year, the company added over 1 million net subscribers, bringing its total subscriber base to over 22.9 million as of June 30.
Citi analyst Jason Bazinet backed his "Buy" rating on the stock and he boosted his 2012 revenue estimate for Sirius to $3.4 billion from $3.39 billion
"We remain buyers of Sirius XM as subscriber growth continues to be solid despite announced price increase and we expect free cash to ramp given expectations for modest capital expenditure spending," Bazinet wrote in a note to investors.
Sirius plans to release its second-quarter results on Aug. 7.
In morning trading, shares of Sirius XM Radio Inc. rose 1 cent to $2.05.
