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Dueling Fools: Sirius Bull Rebuttal

By Anders Bylund – Updated Nov 14, 2016 at 11:55PM

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Vicious cycle? I think not.

Hey, Chuck, thanks for the help with illustrating the massive growth Sirius Satellite Radio  (NASDAQ:SIRI) is experiencing. Here, let me refresh everyone's memory a bit:

Year

Revenue

Operating Income

Long-Term Debt

Shares Outstanding

2002

$805,000

($313,127,000)

$670,357,000

76,394,000

2003

$12,872,000

($437,530,000)

$194,803,000

827,186,000

2004

$66,854,000

($678,304,000)

$656,274,000

1,238,585,000

2005

$242,245,000

($829,140,000)

$1,084,437,000

1,325,739,000

2006

$637,245,000

($1,067,724,000)

$1,068,249,000

1,402,619,000

I'll concede that there is some bad news in there. The share dilution in the early years was massive, and the company is far from profitable today.

But look at the revenue growth. You'd expect any upstart to triple its annual sales early on, but Sirius nearly did it last year -- five years after launching its first satellite. The company has started to pay back on its debts, and the dilution situation is far less ridiculous these days.

This is what the early days of an explosive growth story look like. Go back and check up on some of the classic growth gems if you like. Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) became profitable early on, but grew much slower than Sirius or XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:XMSR). The same goes for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Satellite TV provider EchoStar (NASDAQ:DISH) -- which I pointed out has returned 35% annually to its shareholders over the last 10 years -- followed the Sirius model to a T in its early stages. That company is also locked in a two-way duopoly situation, in the same costly infrastructure industry, with the same seemingly crushing debt load.

And, just as Sirius and XM have talked about mergers in the past, so have EchoStar and its rival DirecTV (NYSE:DTV), with nothing ever coming of it. The potential is there for Sirius to deliver those types of  returns. Vote accordingly.

The duel's not done yet! Go back and read the other arguments, then sound off in Motley Fool CAPS and vote for the winner.

Microsoft is a Motley Fool Inside Value pick, and Starbucks is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here, but he's back safely from Guatemala. Hooray! You can check out Anders' holdings if you like, and Foolish disclosure will make your day, every day.

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Stocks Mentioned

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. Stock Quote
Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
SIRI
$5.81 (-1.02%) $0.06
Microsoft Corporation Stock Quote
Microsoft Corporation
MSFT
$237.92 (-1.27%) $-3.06
Starbucks Corporation Stock Quote
Starbucks Corporation
SBUX
$84.17 (-0.63%) $0.53
DISH Network Corporation Stock Quote
DISH Network Corporation
DISH
$15.20 (-3.00%) $0.47
DIRECTV, LLC Stock Quote
DIRECTV, LLC
DTV.DL
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Stock Quote
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
XMSR.DL

*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.

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