This Week in Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI): Pandora Media Inc (P), Google Inc (GOOG), Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Things never get dull for the country’s lone satellite-radio provider. Shares of Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) moved higher this week, closing up 2.2% to hit $3.21. The general market also moved higher, and Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI)’s hearty gain matched the Dow’s 2.2% ascent.

There was more going on beyond the share-price gyrations, though. The company also revisited its four-year high of $3.25. Streaming music leader Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) moved higher after posting better-than-expected quarterly results. Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) announced that its CFO will speak at an investor conference. And finally, reports indicated that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is running into some snags as it gears up to launch its own streaming service, but Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is apparently trying to double its chances at succeeding by rolling out two distinct platforms.

Let’s take a closer look.

Breaking $3.25 is hard to do
Sirius XM opened at $3.25 on Wednesday and Thursday, but it couldn’t nudge its way higher during the week. That’s OK. There are things far worse than revisiting a four-year high.

You also have to go all the way back to March 25, 2008, to find the last time the shares traded higher. In other words, this four-year high is about to become a five-year high by the end of the month.

Trading at levels last seen 60 months ago also means that nearly all of the 406.3 million shares sold short as of mid-February are sporting losses. At a time when Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI)’s short interest hasn’t been higher, it won’t take much of a catalyst to trigger a short squeeze.

Pandora rocks for a change
Shares of Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) soared 18% on Friday after posting strong quarterly results. The music-discovery pioneer posted a narrower-than-expected loss of $0.04 a share, with revenue soaring 54% to $125.1 million.

The news gets better. After watching its monthly listeners fall from 67.1 million in December to 65.6 million in January, February’s tally clocked in at 67.1 million unique listeners. That’s not too shabby of a turnaround for the shortest month of the year. Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P)’s revenue guidance — calling for $120 million to $125 million for the current quarter and $600 million to $620 million for the year — also came in ahead of Wall Street targets.

It’s easy to wonder whether Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) will really hold up this well after Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI)’s MySXM gains traction and the titans of tech introduce their own platform, but the outlook is surprisingly robust — for now.