Why Pandora Shares Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Pandora rose more than 14% during intraday trading Tuesday, after the streaming music specialist yesterday named digital advertising veteran Brian McAndrews as its new CEO.

So what: McAndrews will replace Pandora's current CEO, Joe Kennedy, who has stayed on as the company searched for a replacement following his resignation announcement in March.

Previously, McAndrews served as President and CEO of aQuantive, a digital marketing company that Microsoft acquired in 2007 for more than $6 billion. Then, following a stint as a senior VP there, McAndrews left Microsoft in 2009 to join Madrona Venture Group as an investing partner.

Now what: Recognized as Advertising Age's first-ever "Digital Executive of the Year," and designated one of the 30 most-influential executives in his field by Adweek, investors are understandably excited about McAndrews' prospects for helping Pandora achieve sustainable profitability.

On that note, given increasing competition from the likes of recently launched services from Apple's iTunes Radio, to Microsoft's Xbox Music, as well as privately held companies like Spotify, it would also be hard to blame investors who choose to use today's pop as an opportunity to take profits until that happens.

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The article Why Pandora Shares Popped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Steve Symington owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Pandora Media. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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