Pandora CEO Kennedy to step down

Revenue from mobile ads also grew faster than listening on mobile devices, easing a key investor concern about the company's ability to make a profit from the booming segment.

Shares jumped $2.42, or 20.6 percent, to $14.15 in after-hours trading. The last time Pandora hit $14 was Jan. 27, 2012.

Kennedy, 53, has led the company as chairman and CEO since July 2004, will step down after a successor is found.

"As part of our board discussions of the road that lies ahead, I reached the conclusion and advised the board that the time is right to begin a process to identify my successor," Kennedy said in a statement.

The company also said Thursday that it lost $14.6 million, or 9 cents per share, in the three months through Jan. 31. That compares with a loss of $8.2 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the cost of compensating executives with stock, the adjusted loss came to 4 cents per share, slightly better than the loss of 5 cents per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue grew 54 percent to $125.1 million, more than the $122.8 million Wall Street expected.