Why? Well, sentiment about the company and its prospects are clearly improving now that it has its finances in order. The unexpected increase in subscriber growth the company recently reported is obviously helping as well. Also presumably fueling the rally is increasing confidence that Howard Stern will stick with Sirius, rather than bail for terrestrial radio when his contract expires next year. Beyond that, I’m not entirely sure.

In any event, it seems there’s no longer a need for a reverse stock split to push Sirius above the $1 per share minimum for Nasdaq trading.

David Faber: The stock price is very low.

Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin: It sucks.”

– Mel Karmazin states the obvious in a July 2008 interview with CNBC

At Sirius XM’s (SIRI) annual meeting Thursday, shareholders approved a reverse stock split plan that empowers the board to split common Sirius shares by a 1-for-10 to 1-for-50 ratio by end of 2009. They also approved the issuance of up to 3.5 billion new shares. Should Sirius need to, it can now effect a reverse split that will raise its stock price above the $1 necessary to avoid delisting and sell new shares to meet the almost $1 billion in loan repayments it faces next year.

Sounds like a reasonable plan on the face of things. Trouble is Sirius is trading at around $.14. And at that anemic price, proceeds from a sale of 3.5 billion new shares would amount to just $490 million–less than half the amount of the debt coming due next year. Sirius clearly hopes it won’t have to issue all 3.5 billion shares the vote approved. To do so would dilute existing holdings and drag its share price still deeper into the mud. It would, however, keep the company in business–in the short term. Sirius’s long-term viability is another problem entirely, one that’s not easily solved. With an almost $5 billion loss in its last quarter, subscriber growth plateauing, and the U.S. auto industry–a major source of new Sirius sales–in decline, the satellite radio provider really needs to do something to shore up its ailing business. And its plans to drive subscriber growth, outlined in the second slide below, may not be enough to do it.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Your Report Card Is Your Stock Price? Guess Sirius Is Making Straight $.13’s…
• Save Sirius Coalition Having Trouble Saving Sirius
• Karmazin: Ask Not What Sirius Can Do for You; Ask What You Can Do for Sirius
• Trade You 77 shares of SIRI for 1 Month of “Sirius Everything”
• Sirius CEO: This Sucks

David Faber: The stock price is very low.

Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin: It sucks.”

– Mel Karmazin states the obvious in a July 2008 interview with CNBC

At Sirius XM’s (SIRI) annual meeting Thursday, shareholders approved a reverse stock split plan that empowers the board to split common Sirius shares by a 1-for-10 to 1-for-50 ratio by end of 2009. They also approved the issuance of up to 3.5 billion new shares. Should Sirius need to, it can now effect a reverse split that will raise its stock price above the $1 necessary to avoid delisting and sell new shares to meet the almost $1 billion in loan repayments it faces next year.

Sounds like a reasonable plan on the face of things. Trouble is Sirius is trading at around $.14. And at that anemic price, proceeds from a sale of 3.5 billion new shares would amount to just $490 million–less than half the amount of the debt coming due next year. Sirius clearly hopes it won’t have to issue all 3.5 billion shares the vote approved. To do so would dilute existing holdings and drag its share price still deeper into the mud. It would, however, keep the company in business–in the short term. Sirius’s long-term viability is another problem entirely, one that’s not easily solved. With an almost $5 billion loss in its last quarter, subscriber growth plateauing, and the U.S. auto industry–a major source of new Sirius sales–in decline, the satellite radio provider really needs to do something to shore up its ailing business. And its plans to drive subscriber growth, outlined in the second slide below, may not be enough to do it.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Your Report Card Is Your Stock Price? Guess Sirius Is Making Straight $.13’s…
• Save Sirius Coalition Having Trouble Saving Sirius
• Karmazin: Ask Not What Sirius Can Do for You; Ask What You Can Do for Sirius
• Trade You 77 shares of SIRI for 1 Month of “Sirius Everything”
• Sirius CEO: This Sucks

What’s more, the company reaffirmed its 2009 revenue estimate of $2.7 billion. Quite a victory for Karmazin, who’s been facing a fair bit of shareholder discontent and more than a few calls for his ouster.

All of that, hopefully, would convince investors that the meandering media conglomerate had a plan, momentum, etc. And then they would finally lift Time Warner (TWX) shares out of the high teens, where they had been mired for many years.

But now an AOL-Yahoo (YHOO) deal seems stuck in neutral, the rest of the Time Warner empire is in cost-cutting mode, and a stock price in the high teens must look pretty good to investors, whose stock is currently worth about $9 a share.

Hence, a proposed 1-2 or 1-3 stock split, which Time Warner management wants shareholders to approve next month. From the SEC filing: “The Board of Directors believes that effecting a reverse stock split, resulting in fewer shares of the Time Warner Common Stock being outstanding, is likely to increase the market price and improve the marketability and liquidity of the Time Warner Common Stock.”

Translation: You got a better idea?