Sirius XM: Back From the Brink

February has been a great month for Sirius XM Radio. Last week, its shares rose above $1, the first time they’ve crossed that threshold since September 2008. And now the company has posted its first quarterly profit since its controversial merger.

Reporting fourth-quarter earnings this morning, the satellite-radio provider, which was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy last year, posted a profit of $14.2 million–less than a penny a share–compared with a year-earlier loss of $245.8 million, or eight cents. Revenue for the quarter rose 8.7 percent to $676.2 million.

An impressive showing, considering analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a two-cent loss on revenue of $664 million.

Sirius (SIRI) added 257,028 subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 18.8 million. The company expects to add another 500,000 in 2010.