Macquarie analyst Amy Young said Pandora (P) interest and digital threats remain in he background, but the greater unknown for Sirius (SIRI) is the upcoming CRB hearing this month to determine the royalty rate through 2022. The analyst expects a 100bps bump in 2018, similar to 2012, with a 50bps escalator through 2022, and other costs to remain under control, which should offset R&D/marketing investments for 360L. Young remains bullish on Sirius' the resiliency of Sirius core model and continues to expect net adds, free cash flow, and buybacks to exceed expectations. The analyst has an Outperform rating and $5.85 price target on Sirius XM shares.

Citi upgraded Sirius XM (SIRI) to Neutral from Sell with a price target of $3.30, down from $4.10. Over the last few months, the net asset value discount between Liberty SiriusXM (LSXMA) and Sirius XM has narrowed from 40% to 2%. To Citi's surprise, this occurred via a decline in Sirius XM's equity without appreciation in Liberty SiriusXM's value. The firm now finds the risk/reward in both securities as relatively balanced. As such, Citi upgraded Sirius XM from Sell to Neutral and downgraded Liberty SiriusXM from Buy to Neutral.

Pivotal Research upgraded Sirius XM (SIRI) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $4.90, down from $5.05. The magnitude of the decline in Sirius XM's valuation has been surprising, exacerbated by a current lack of institutional ownership and the fact most investors owned parent Liberty Sirius XM (LSXMK) to play the narrowing of the net asset value gap rather than as a way to invest in Sirius, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says this has created an attractive investment opportunity, highlighted by the 55% upside to its new target price. It views Sirius as a free cash flow acceleration story.