(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - N.America) Pandora Media (NYSE:P) shares plunged Friday after reports said Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was in talks to license music for a rival online radio service.
Shares of Pandora, the Oakland, California-based firm which creates personalized radio stations for users, slid 20 per cent to $10.17.
Pandora is a popular online streaming music service that makes most of its money through advertising. But there are host of competitors, including Clear Channel, Sirius XM Radio and Spotify.
According to press reports, Apple was studying a launch of a streaming music service which could be pre-installed on its popular devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Representatives from Apple and Pandora did not respond to requests for comment.
Analysts said the move could shake up the sector since it is the largest music retailer in the world and the move would impact rivals in the space such as Pandora and Spotify.
Apple had previously weighed launching a Pandora competitor, but dropped the bid due to licensing costs, the press reports said.
Pandora reported last week that its revenue climbed in the recently-ended quarter but that it still lost money due in large part to royalties paid out for songs.
Last week, Pandora's second-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates.
Net loss, for the second quarter that ended July 31, was wider at $5.41 million, or 3 cents a share, compared to a narrower loss of $1.81 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier.
Removing $6 million in stock-based compensation costs, Pandora said adjusted per-share earnings were breakeven. Sales were $101 million, up 51 per cent from $67 million in the same quarter last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share loss of three cents, on $100 million in revenue.
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