Orbitcast will be live blogging the XM Satellite Radio 2Q07 Earnings Call. Just keep hitting that refresh button to see live updates as they come in. On with the show...

• In a holding pattern. Conference call to start at 10am ET...

XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) announced their 2Q06 earnings results, showing that net loss was down  $176 million from $229 million a year earlier. Revenue for this year's second quarter increased 22% year over year to $277 million compared to $228 million in the 2006 second quarter.

XM ended 2Q07 with more than 8.25 million subscribers.

In Q2 2007, XM had 942,000 gross subscriber additions and 338,000 net subscriber additions - compared to 926,000 gross and 398,000 net subscriber additions in the same period last year.

2Q07 SAC came in at $75 compared to $67 in 2Q06. Second quarter 2007 SAC includes $10 for inventory-related charges as well as a $10 increase as a result of continued OEM growth from increased production by our newer automotive partners.

CPGA in the 2007 second quarter rose to $121 compared to $112 in the second quarter of 2006.

Adjusted operating loss (formerly adjusted EBITDA) was $47 million compared to a loss of $46 million in the same period of 2006. This adjusted operating loss includes $4 million in expenses related to XM's pending merger with Sirius Satellite Radio.

Full financial report after the jump. Earnings call is scheduled for 10am ET, and as usual, Orbitcast will be live-blogging the call...

XM Satellite Radio's Chief Executive Officer, Hugh Panero, will be leaving the company in August it was just announced by the company.

Current XM President & COO, Nate Davis will serve as President and interim CEO. Hugh Panero recruited Nate Davis to serve as President & Chief Operating Officer in July 2006. Mr. Davis has served as a member of the Board of Directors since October 1999.

"Hugh took satellite radio from a concept and turned it into the popular, mass market, consumer entertainment product it is today. I thank Hugh personally for his friendship, and professionally, for nearly a decade of industry leadership," said XM Chairman, Gary Parsons in a statement.

This should make XM's earnings call on Thursday verrrry interesting. You can definitely expect this to be a topic of conversation.

While it's impossible to say for sure why Panero quit, the word on the street has been that Hugh was playing a far less significant role at XM for quite some time. Even when I wrote up an entry calling for his resignation, there were whispers that his term at the company was nearing it's end. Panero was already scheduled to leave after the merger closed, this just is an accelerated plan.

If you've ever met Hugh, you know he is an extremely personable and down to earth man. He must be given a lot of credit for being a pioneer in the industry (especially through the incredible amount of personal hardship he and his family had to endure), for building one of the fastest-growing entertainment services ever - and for recognizing when it is time to pass the torch.

Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) are scheduled to release their 2Q results within the next two weeks, and analysts are offering up their predictions of what's to come.

And the news ain't that bad. (surprised?)

Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck projects that Sirius will add 920,000 gross subscribers, while net subscriber additions will come in at 477,000. For XM, Bear Stearns projects gross additions of 950,000 and net additions of 323,000 subscribers.

Bank of America's Jonathan Jacoby is a bit more bullish on subscriber additions, stating that Sirius "will easily top" BofA's estimates of 441,000 net subscriber additions, "and could beat the Street consensus estimate of 470K by as much as 25K." Jacoby also estimates that XM will also "easily top" the Street consensus of 310k net subscribers, and may even best his more aggressive estimate of 345,000 net subscribers.

The comps are hard though. For the same period last year, XM came in at 398,012 net subscribers (926,281 gross subs) and Sirius topped the scale at 600,460 net subscribers (830,571 gross subs).

Even if XM and Sirius beat out the more bullish estimates, they still likely won't beat 2Q06's numbers... albeit by a relatively small amount. But with the merger on everyone's minds, will it even matter?

XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) has scheduled their 2Q07 financial results conference call for Thursday, July 26th, at 10am ET.

They'll announce the second quarter 2007 financial results just prior to the call. You can listen in online, or here's the call in info:

Number: (877) 265-5808
Local number: (706) 679-7931
Conference ID#: 6562974

It's a reoccurring theme, but one that keep raising its ugly head: theflyonthewall.com is reporting that there's chatter of a competing bid for XM Satellite Radio (XMSR).

And while this rumor is still only unconfirmed takeover speculation, it seems to be happening more often lately. Which increases the chances of it being true in my opinion.

I think if the proposed merger fails - especially as a result of the DOJ defining the relevant market as being just "satellite radio" - this could open up the door for a takeover of XM. If satellite doesn't compete, CBS Radio (or Clear Channel, or whoever) can then snatch up one of the satcasters without anti-trust fears.

[theflyonthewall.com]