• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead

2

Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline

3

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was designed to hit the wealthy, but it’s sending most New Yorkers to their estate lawyers

1

He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead

2

Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline

3

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was designed to hit the wealthy, but it’s sending most New Yorkers to their estate lawyers
FinanceInvesting

Howard Stern and More: Why Warren Buffett Bought Stock in Sirius XM

By
Jeff Bukhari
Jeff Bukhari
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jeff Bukhari
Jeff Bukhari
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 16, 2017, 2:22 PM ET
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Annual General Meeting
Photograph by Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Sirius XM hasn’t turned into the media powerhouse that some people thought it would be a couple of decades ago. But it may still be a stock worth buying now, at least if you take Warren Buffett’s word for it.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) holding company reported in a quarterly filing Tuesday it now holds about 166.64 million shares of the satellite radio provider (SIRI) . That translates to an $825 million holding as of midday trading Thursday, or about 3.5% of Sirius XM shares.

Investors seemed to have taken notice of Buffett’s stamp of approval, driving shares of the company up more than 5% since Berkshire Hathaway’s disclosure. Sirius stock is enjoying its best run in more than a decade: It’s up about about 45% from its low of a year ago, and on Thursday it briefly hit $5.00 for the first time since 2006 before settling just under that mark. In February 2000, at the peak of the dot-com bubble, Sirius traded at $61; in early 2009, shares of the company dipped as low as $0.06.

Buffett’s bet on Sirius seems to be based on the company’s dependable performance as of late. The company has seen revenue growth of around 10% annually over the last three years and has good cash flow. The company has also been profitable of late after many years of losses: Most recently, Sirius reported positive quarterly earnings two weeks ago, posting revenue of $1.3 billion and earnings of $0.04 per share, which beat analysts’ estimates.

The company also reported it now has 31.3 million subscribers; it added 1.7 million accounts in 2016. The solid increase in user base is good sign for Sirius, as 84% of its revenue comes from subscriptions.

 

Sirius has focused on original content as a way to draw in more subscribers, which is right out of the playbook of Netflix and other entertainment streaming services. The service boasts lots of big names as hosts for its shows, most notably Howard Stern, who agreed in December 2015 to a new contract to host his show for another five years, in a deal worth at least $80 million per year.

Aside from the advantage original content brings, Sirius also has a couple things in its back pocket that will help its cash flow. The company carries $4 billion in past losses, which it can use to shield its earnings from taxes. In addition, as a result of the merger of Sirius and XM back in 2007, the company runs two separate satellite systems, but only actually needs one. Sirius could choose to significantly expand its offerings and perhaps even incorporate video, which would likely draw in a whole new set of subscribers.

Another option for Sirius would be to sell off the unused spectrum to the highest bidder, which would translate to billions of dollars in a marketplace where communications companies are constantly vying for more bandwidth. For example, part of the reason AT&T merged with DirecTV in 2015 was to ensure it had enough spectrum to fulfill its customers’ ever-growing use of content.

On the horizon, Sirius has shown interest in buying online music streaming service Pandora (P) , which would better enable the company to compete with rivals Spotify, Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN). Those companies’ streaming-media efforts are making growing incursions into the “in-car” market where Sirius’s offerings are currently dominant.

About the Author
By Jeff Bukhari
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

boom
Personal FinanceRetirement
Millennials say they’ll refuse to care for aging Boomer parents—but they’ll be forced to as their inheritance shrinks to 40 cents on the dollar
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 31, 2026
2 hours ago
Current ARM mortgage rates report for July 31, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current ARM mortgage rates report for July 31, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 31, 2026
2 hours ago
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 31, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 31, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 31, 2026
2 hours ago
Today’s home equity loan and HELOC rates, July 31, 2026
Personal Financehome equity
Today’s home equity loan and HELOC rates, July 31, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 31, 2026
2 hours ago
Mortgage rates today, July 31, 2026
Personal Financemortgages
Mortgage rates today, July 31, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 31, 2026
2 hours ago
Man in a suit gesturing
Big TechAmazon
Andy Jassy said Amazon will spend $220 billion this year—and still won’t have enough capacity to meet demand
By Amanda GerutJuly 30, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead
Success
He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead
By Preston ForeJuly 29, 2026
2 days ago
Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline
Retail
Costco's $14 million email settlement: Who qualifies for an up-to $500 payment and how to claim before the Aug. 24 deadline
By Sydney LakeJuly 29, 2026
2 days ago
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was designed to hit the wealthy, but it’s sending most New Yorkers to their estate lawyers
Real Estate
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was designed to hit the wealthy, but it’s sending most New Yorkers to their estate lawyers
By Catherina GioinoJuly 30, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 30, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 30, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 30, 2026
22 hours ago
'Am I paying for the vibes?' Gen Z says it hates capitalism, but their spending patterns show they just don't like being ripped off
Retail
'Am I paying for the vibes?' Gen Z says it hates capitalism, but their spending patterns show they just don't like being ripped off
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 30, 2026
22 hours ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
6 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.