Wall Street Takes a Hatchet to Pandora (P) as Competition Mounts

After seeing a nice resurgence of 38% over the past three months, Pandora (NYSE: P) has given all those hard fought gains back and then some after posting a quarter and outlook which is being viewed as "dismal" by some. Shares of the Internet radio provider last traded down 31%.

Pandora's revenue grew 30% to $311.6 million and EPS flipped to a profit of $0.10. However, those results missed the Street slightly on the top-line and just matched on the bottom line.

More concerning was guidance and slowing listener engagement.

Pandora said it sees Q4 2015 revenue of $325-330 million, and adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $25 million to $30 million. This was 7% and 51% below the Street, respectively.

Listener Hours growth was weak at 3%, with the company feeling the impact from Apple Music and Spotify.

Piper Jaffray analyst James March put it this way, "competition is meaningfully impacting growth while expenses like content and market accelerate into 2016." This is not a good combination and the analyst is downgrading.

Mark Mahaney from RBC Capital said what may be required to combat Apple Music and Spotify is a major marketing campaign in 2016. Doing so, however, could significantly pressure profitability. He is moving to the sidelines given the risks.

Overall, seven Wall Street firms have downgraded Pandora today: BofA/Merrill Lynch, Albert Fried & Company, Piper Jaffray, Oppenheimer, MKM Partners, Pacific Crest, and RBC Capital.

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