Things never get dull for the country's lone satellite-radio provider. Shares of Sirius XM Radio (SIRI +0.00%) moved higher this past week, rising 2.4% to close at $3.77. The media darling's slide was better than the Nasdaq's 1.7% gain on the week.
There was more going on beyond the share-price gyrations, though. Sirius XM introduced a new portable receiver. An article suggests that Sirius XM should acquire General Motors' (GM 4.45%) OnStar subsidiary. And on the streaming front, Pandora (P +0.00%) continued to move lower after receiving an analyst downgrade after posting quarterly results a week earlier.
Let's take a closer look.
The spirit of radio
Best Buy (BBY 3.00%) kicked off its Black Friday deals a week early, offering Sirius XM's Onyx receiver for just $19.99. That's 75% off its $79.99 retail price.
We found out on Monday why Best Buy was so aggressive with the markdowns when it introduced the Onyx Plus. The updated receiver offers access to the nearly two dozen additional Sirius XM 2.0 stations. It also offers a PowerConnect vehicle kit with its universal docking functionality, allowing owners to easily remove the small receiver as they enjoy satellite radio from their car, office, or home.
The press release names only Best Buy as the place to get it aside from ordering directly through Sirius XM.
When stars collide
Sirius XM turned heads with its acquisition of Agero's connected-vehicle business to beef up its telematics offerings, and at least one financial blogger thinks Agero may be merely an appetizer.
Rizzi Capital posted an interesting Seeking Alpha article on Wednesday, suggesting that Sirius XM should acquire GM's market-leading OnStar platform.
To be honest, it doesn't seem likely. GM may command as much as $7 billion in a sale, and it's unlikely to settle for stock. That alone may be enough to price Sirius XM out of contention. It also remains to be seen why GM would want to sell its high-margin telematics business. A third party could have success in marketing OnStar outside GM vehicles, but it would be a surprise if Sirius XM could finance the deal and eventually clear regulatory hurdles to close on the transaction.
Panned Pandora
Pandora put out a decent quarterly report a week earlier, but the stock's stiff valuation raises expectations for more than just a strong showing. Morgan Stanley downgraded Pandora the day after the report, and that sentiment was enough to carry over through the weekend, sending the stock 4% lower on Monday.
It also didn't help that Billboard reported that Pandora is abandoning its efforts to get the Internet Radio Fairness Act passed in Congress, an act that would've made its music royalty obligations more in line with what traditional radio stations are paying.
