Sirius XM Holdings Inc Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst : Thank you. A couple related questions maybe just first on conversion. Could you just dig a little deeper into what you're seeing in the conversion rates, Jennifer? It seems like that's really kind of the north star as a company right now to get net adds back on track. So can you dig a little deeper into what you're seeing in new car conversion. Have you seen any change in the way different age cohorts are reacting to the new technologies, streaming applications, et cetera? And where do you expect new car conversion to go over the next couple of years? And then also on the ARPU side of things, what can we expect from SiriusXM really subscription ARPU? Do you feel like you have any pricing power at this point churn has remained low, but I know you're trying to drive that conversion piece as well. So I would love to just help on how we can think about ARPU for the medium term. Thank you.

Question: Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Jessica Reif Ehrlich - BofA Global Research - Analyst : Thanks. Two topics. First, on advertising, you've mentioned several times, both of you that, that's a big opportunity for growth. Just wondering if you could talk a little bit about the drivers. What gives you confidence second half will pick up? What are you seeing in the market? And then talk about some of the new tools like programmatic, does that really tap into a new pool of advertisers. And then the second question, all three pillars of growth, subscribers, advertising, financial, they seem to depend on content. So maybe you could talk about, you have multiple levers, whether it's podcasting live, different genres, where do you see the most opportunity to really make a difference?

Question: Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. Thank you for taking the question. I was curious about the discussion about new packages coming and if there's a way to give us a little bit better sense of how we're going to feel that hit the P&L and when we're kind of feel that hit the P&L. I understand that there's some details to come, but is this a drive in maybe a decrease in ARPU or an increase in? And does it kind of slowly filter in as you roll these out or is it kind of a big bang of that? A little bit more color would be helpful.

Question: Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. And then if I could just ask one other quick follow up, you guys, you know, are reiterating guidance for an improvement in paid net ad trend this year versus last year. And I just want to understand is improvement less negative or positive or TBD?

Question: Barton Crockett - Rosenblatt Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Okay, thank you.

Question: Stephen Laszczyk - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great, good morning. Two, if I could. First Jennifer, you called out some of the positive momentum you're seeing on the new streaming experience. Could you maybe talk a little bit more about some of the positive proof points you saw in the second quarter and then maybe your goals around scaling that strategy into the back half of the year and into 2025. And then for Tom on profitability, could you unpack some of the drivers at a nice cost performance in the quarter. G&A look like it was down a good deal year over year. Is there anything aside from the cost efficiency plan that we should keep in mind as we model the cost structure going forward? Thank you.

Question: Stephen Laszczyk - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great. Thank you.

Question: Jim Goss - Barrington Research Associates, Inc. - Analyst : Thanks. In terms of the free ad supported plans, you're, you're trying to roll out, are these going to be a totally separate channels or are they going to be based on some of the existing stream content or the content that involves hosts? And what sort of cannibalization risk do you perceive if you have such plans available and the existing subscribers -- you know, look to tap into them?

Question: Jim Goss - Barrington Research Associates, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. Maybe a follow up. Do you, do you think this will give you a lot greater benefit in terms of the ad sales in the core SiriusXM service that where, where you're advertising has been probably a lot more on the Pandora side. Do you think that'll be a significantly greater revenue category for you?

Question: Jim Goss - Barrington Research Associates, Inc. - Analyst : And maybe one last one. International sales opportunity with -- since you can do programming without satellites, is that going to be a significant component of your business?

Question: Jim Goss - Barrington Research Associates, Inc. - Analyst : All right, thanks very much.

Question: Cameron Mansson-Perrone - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Thank you for taking the questions. Good morning, everyone. On the self-pay outlook, should we expect to move back to a point estimate for self-pay guidance any time soon? I know a lot changing in terms of product and packaging, etcetera. But just any color on where the primary areas of uncertainty are today in your minds that make more specificity there, a challenge. And then on OEM agreements, the continuing shift to unpaid trials. Is that driven by new agreements or is that kind of balance shifting under existing agreements? And when do you expect that underlying shift in terms of trial mix to stabilize? Thanks guys.

Question: Cameron Mansson-Perrone - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Got it helpful. Thank you, Jennifer.