Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) Shares Crushed, Can't Live Up to Hype

Shares of Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI) are getting hammered today as the Internet hype surrounding the company was found to be just that, as attempts to make Sirius look better than they actually are was found to be an illusion, as the company failed to meet expectations in their latest quarter.

Analysts had been looking for the company to breakeven in the quarter, but instead Sirius had a loss of 2 cents a share.

Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM, attempted to salvage the disaster, saying, "SiriusXM's results in 2010 were exceptional, surpassing our guidance and achieving record revenues, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. Our unparalleled content and the continuing improvements in the economy helped us attain a record-high subscriber base of 20.2 million. Our laser-like focus on profitable growth delivered a 35% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $626 million, and produced free cash flow of more than $200 million."

Guidance was also less than the Street was looking for, with Sirius looking for revenue of $3 billion, below the $3.09 billion analysts expect.

While the revenue rose for the quarter to $736 million, it also failed to meet expectations of $739.18 million.

The company was able to grow the number of subscribers in the quarter, adding 328,789 more, as sales of new cars increased.

Sirius was trading at $1.74, down $0.10, or 5.19 percent, as of 12:03 PM EST.