Fox Business Network anchor Stuart Varney was rather blunt in questioning Pandora Media CEO Joe Kennedy (pictured) as his company’s stock traded Wednesday (6/15) for the first day on the NYSE. Varney wanted to talk about Pandora’s financial stats, but Kennedy insisted instead on talking about how his company is, in his view, redefining radio.
“Let me put it to you like this, your financials do not justify the stock pop that you see this morning. I think you’re cashing in on the Internet – a new Internet bubble,” Varney began.
“We’re not focused on the stock price. We’re focused on an enormous opportunity to redefine one of the major consumer categories – of radio – and define what radio can be in this Internet-connected age, delivering people a dramatically better experience. That’s our focus,” Kennedy insisted.
As the interview progressed, he continued to refuse to talk about whether the company’s stock price could be justified. However, Kennedy did say “we’ve demonstrated a track record of growing revenue, improving margins and cash flow over time.”
When Varney noted that Kennedy is now worth around $90 million as a result of the IPO, the CEO insisted “I have no idea” because that’s not where his focus lies.
Click here for the video provided by Fox Business Network.
RBR-TVBR observation: Kennedy spoke of improving margins and cash flow. Did he read his own Q1 report? The quarterly conference calls that Pandora execs will now be having with Wall Street analysts should be interesting if their cash flow performance keeps going the wrong direction – particularly if they try to not talk about the financials as the CEO did in the FBN interview.
