Sirius XM reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.84 per share, outperforming the consensus estimate of $0.77. This result also compares favorably with the $0.83 recorded in the year-ago period. The beat was driven by disciplined cost management, including a 6% reduction in subscriber acquisition expenses year-over-year, and higher advertising sales on its Pandora platform, which delivered a 12% increase in ad-supported streaming revenue versus Q4 2024.

Across its combined services – SiriusXM satellite radio, Pandora streaming and the company’s podcast network – monthly unique listener reach grew to approximately 170 million in 2025, up from roughly 162 million a year earlier. Sirius XM added 450,000 net new self-pay subscribers in Q4, bringing total self-pay subscribers to 33.8 million, and achieved a 4.2% year-over-year increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) driven by higher tier take-rates and upselling of on-demand content bundles.

Although the strong quarterly results underpinned the rally, trading data indicate that today’s surge in Sirius XM shares was amplified by unusually high volumes in near-term call options and a pronounced short-interest squeeze. Short interest represented 9.1% of the float at the end of January, suggesting that a wave of short covering, combined with speculative flows in the derivatives market, played a key role in propelling the stock higher.