What happened
Pandora Media (P) stock fell 14.5% in July 2018, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. As is often the case, a single analyst note made a market-moving difference for Pandora and its shareholders.
So what
On July 23, analyst firm BTIG started coverage of Pandora and rival music-streaming service Spotify Technology (SPOT 11.41%), preferring Spotify in no uncertain terms. BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield suggested buying Spotify due to the advantages brought by its "magic six" features when compared to Pandora and other music services. Those magic features center around a more usable and widely distributed streaming platform, topped by credit card data from 57 million paying account holders around the world. By comparison, Pandora's Rolodex for paying customers stops at 6 million names.
Curiously, that note hardly affected Spotify's stock at all. Its shares moved 8.7% higher in July as a whole.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Don't cry for Pandora investors, though. The company reported second-quarter results after the closing bell on July 31, beating Wall Street's earnings estimates and downright crushing revenue expectations. Share prices raced as much as 23.4% higher the next day, erasing July's doldrums and then some. All told, the stock is back to where it was at the start of July.
And the roller-coaster ride continues. Pandora's shares have now gained 63% year to date but dropped 6% lower in 52 weeks.
