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Ahead of the Bell: Pandora, Skullcandy, Texas Instruments, and Herbalife

Pandora Media, Inc. (P) topped analyst predictions with fourth quarter results and surprised again with news that CEO Joe Kennedy is resigning from his post.  The online radio company reported a
Andrew Klips became enraptured with the markets as a teenager and has been an active trader on a daily basis for more than a decade. Specializing in technical analysis, he is an avid player of stock charts making technical bottoms mixed with a particular affinity for the fundamentals of biotechnology companies.
Andrew Klips became enraptured with the markets as a teenager and has been an active trader on a daily basis for more than a decade. Specializing in technical analysis, he is an avid player of stock charts making technical bottoms mixed with a particular affinity for the fundamentals of biotechnology companies.

Pandora Media, Inc. (P) topped analyst predictions with fourth quarter results and surprised again with news that CEO Joe Kennedy is resigning from his post.  The online radio company reported a net loss of $14.6 million, or 9 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $8.2 million, or 5 cents per share, in the year prior quarter.  Adjusted earnings brought the loss to only 4 cents per share.  Revenue for the recent quarter was $125.1 million, far up from the $81.3 million in the 2011 quarter.

Analysts were expecting a net loss of 5 cents per share on revenue of $122.8 million.

Kennedy said that he will retain his position as chief executive until a replacement is found.  “As part of our board discussions of the road that lies ahead, I reached the conclusion and advised the board that the time is right to begin a process to identify my successor,” said Kennedy in a statement.

Shares of P closed the regular session at $11.73, up 0.5% on the day, but surged in extended trading by more than 20 percent to over $14 per share.

Skullcandy, Inc. (SKUL) saw share tumble despite beating analyst predictions with a 21 percent increase in fourth-quarter sales to $101 million.  GAAP earnings were $11.4 million, or 41 cents per share, compared to $12.3 million, or 44 cents per share, in the year prior quarter.  Excluding items, earnings totaled 47 cents per share.  Analysts were expecting 47 cents for EPS and $98 million in revenue.

If they only would have stopped there; the headphone maker would’ve been rockin’.  However, shares turned south quickly as the company said it sees a loss between 25 and 30 cents per share in the current quarter, in part because it lost a major client.  Wall Street had been predicting a profit of 5 cents per share.

Shares of SKUL dove by more than 11 percent to under $6 per share after closing the regular session at $6.72.

Texas Instruments, Inc. (TXN) boosted the bottom end of its guidance for earnings and revenue in the first quarter. For the quarter, the chipmaker said it now believes it will do between $2.8 billion and $2.91 billion in revenue and post earnings per share in the range of 28 cents to 32 cents. Previous revenue guidance was a range of $2.69 billion to $2.91 billion and EPS guidance was a range of 24 cents to 32 cents.

Shares of TXN have been marching upward since November (at $27 per share) to close the regular session Thursday at $35.20.  The guidance change didn’t do much as shares were basically flat in after-hours trading.

Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) shares got a lift after the 4:00 bell after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed that he had raised his stake in the nutritional supplement maker from about 13 percent to 15.5 percent.  Shares of Herbalife closed the day flat at $41.00, but crept upwards a little more than 1 percent with news of Icahn’s additional support.

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