SiriusXM Downplays Tariff Pressures – “Big Picture, We Sleep Well At Night” Says CFO

As the earnings drumbeat continues, SiriusXM CFO Tom Barry said the company doesn’t expect “that tariff-related pressure on new car sales will have a material impact on our subscriber or financial performance this year,” but cautioned, “that said, like every business, we’ll continue to closely monitor ongoing developments and broader consumer health.”

The satellite broadcaster is unique in its dependence on cars, where most people listen to the service, amid punishing tariffs by the Trump administration on autos and auto parts, although the president recently softened the hit. Barry and CEO Jennifer Witz noted on a call after first quarter earnings that the company has not seen an impact so far. “Big picture, we sleep well at night,” Barry said.

Consumer jitters about higher costs in a high tariff regime are also a concern for businesses.

The company, which also owns music streamer Pandora, reported a first-quarter dip in revenue, down 4% to just over $2 billion on softer advertising, and profit, which slipped to $204 million in the March quarter from $240 million the year before. Barry noted an ad softening in travel, auto and retail, which can be early indictors of consumer pullback, but said that was partly offset by strength in the pharmaceutical and telco categories.

SiriusXM paid subscribers dipped by 303k to end the quarter at 33 million.

The shares are trending higher in premarket trading.

Kicking off the call this morning, Witz emphasized a price hike in early March that had little impact on churn and new programming and said the company it is “confidently reiterating” full-year guidance. Content deals include an agreement in February with leading podcaster Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy to launch two new channels, Unwell Music and Unwell On Air.

The podcast business saw revenue rise 33% as it continued to grow in Q1 25 with almost one billion downloads recorded and reaching 70 million monthly podcast listeners. The company signed an exclusive agreement with Fantasy Footballers and launched Creator Connect, a new sales offering which allows marketers to tap into podcast creators’ audiences across audio, video, and social.

At Pandora, revenue of $487 million eased 2% from the $495 million on weaker advertising performance, which eased 2% to $355 million primarily due to a softer digital advertising market, partially offset by higher podcast revenue.

Subscriber revenue remained relatively flat at $132 million. Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium ended the first quarter of 2025 with 5.7 million self-pay subscribers.

“We entered 2025 focused on what we do best: delivering standout experiences to our core subscribers, curating compelling content, strengthening our advertising business, and enhancing the value of our service,” said Witz. “Today, we’re operating with greater discipline, improving execution across the board, and reallocating capital toward the areas where we see the greatest impact. We’re building a more focused, more efficient SiriusXM—aligned around what matters most to our listeners and our business—and I’m pleased with how we’ve started the year.”

Queried on SiriusXM’s exposure to the car market, she said a “very long term, notable reduction in auto sales” would of course be concerning but generally even if new car sales dip, used car sales rise and the company is able to tap that market.