UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Reiterates Pandora at Equal-Weight; Competitive Positioning Not at Risk

Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal-weight rating on Pandora

as it believes the company's positioning is not at risk given barriers to new entrants in its space. Morgan Stanley noted, "Recent speculation about established technology companies entering streaming music has sparked concerns about Pandora's competitive positioning. We identify several key challenges for potential entrants and believe Pandora's best-in-class service / distribution could help it remain on top. ... The level of interactivity in a digital music service dictates its content cost structure. Interactive services play songs on-demand, but must negotiate costs with record labels. Non-interactive services like Pandora typically pay lower content costs, but must abide by strict service limitations." Pandora closed at $10.96 on Thursday.