"Take Some Sirius Profits Off the Table"
By James J. Cramer
RealMoney.com Columnist
12/7/2004 11:14 AM EST
"Sirius (SIRI:Nasdaq - commentary - research) has gotten too hot, even for me, and I am a huge, huge believer in Sirius.
First, my credentials. Right here on this site, when Sirius Satellite was at $2.42, I wrote on Aug. 3 that this was the stock to buy. I said that it made too much sense, and put it first in my speculative basket of little-dollar stocks that I thought would go higher.
When it consequently doubled, I said there were more good things in store and that I thought these fellows really got the program: the NFL, the personality-driven programming, with excellent financial management from a terrific CFO, David Frear.
When the stock ticked at $5, I said hold on, we go higher, stock is telling you more good things ahead. Even at $6 and $7 I could make the case for it, as first Howard Stern and then Mel Karmazin came on. Stern just needs to convert 1/10th of his listeners to paid. Karmazin just needs to work some of his magic to make the market capitalization make sense.
But now? Now as it threatens $9, we have to invoke Mrs. Cramer's Rule: Bulls make money, bears make money and pigs? Well, they just get slaughtered.
Look at the comps. XM Satellite Radio (XMSR:Nasdaq - commentary - research), well ahead of Sirius toward profitability with an excellent management, now sells at 16 times sales. Sirius sells at 47 times sales. Remember, I am stipulating that Sirius is great, but it isn't three times as great as XM, no way, especially given how far behind it was just a year ago.
OK, so many of you think, "Well, XM is too cheap. XM, at $7 billion, just needs to catch up to Sirius at $10 billion, even though XM has $200 million in revenue and Sirius has just $60 million."
Well, then, let's consider Comcast (CMCSA:Nasdaq - commentary - research). The comparison's valid: they both are cable models. Both require people to pay for goods. But look at this difference: I pay $140 a month for my Comcast product. I pay $140 a year for my Sirius product. Right now, though, the market says each Comcast customer is worth $3,350. Each Sirius customer is worth $5,000. That's crazy, that's delusional, that's nuts!
To me, the equation is simple. No matter what metric you come up with, Sirius is overvalued -- and again, I love the finance team, I love Mel, I even love Howard. But it's time to take some Sirius off the table. Don't let greed get the best of you. "
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