Company Reports

Live Nation's second-quarter sales growth remained robust on big gains in concert attendance, Ticketmaster sales, and sponsorship opportunities. Disappointing concerts profit—down 14% to $310 million—was due to costs associated with new venues and international festivals along with venue mix.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Its multiple business lines serve virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

Virtually all metrics were encouraging in Live Nation's first-quarter results, as total sales rose 12% year over year. The adjusted operating margin, which excluded a large litigation expense, ticked down slightly. There was no update regarding the recent antitrust trial loss.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Its multiple business lines serve virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

A jury found that Live Nation has operated as a monopoly in its ticketing practices and how it tied ticketing to its live events. However, the judge has not yet ruled on the remedies, and Live Nation said it would appeal. Shares fell by 7% upon the verdict.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Its multiple business lines serve virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

Live Nation had an excellent 2025, with sales up 9% and adjusted operating income up 10%. International markets drove all the sales growth, with greater venue ownership enabling significant increases in capacity, monetization, and margins. Management expects double-digit AOI growth again in 2026.

Live Nation's third-quarter sales grew 11% year over year, but fewer total events kept the result lower than we anticipated. Still, fan spending was high (8% growth in revenue per event attendee), and an added emphasis on owned and operated venues continues to have a positive impact on margins.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Its multiple business lines serve virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Ticketmaster, alleging that it co-ordinated with ticket resale brokers to allow those ticket brokers to buy tickets from Ticketmaster at face value in the primary market and then resell those same tickets for a premium in the secondary market on Ticketmaster.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company. Its multiple business lines serve virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

Live Nation reported another excellent quarter that showed it's winning in an environment of high concert demand. Macroeconomic concerns are nowhere in sight, and its strategy to own more of its venues is boosting financials. Some of that strength has been drawn from Ticketmaster.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company, with its multiple business lines serving virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

Both concerts and ticketing contributed to Live Nation's 11% decline in sales and 7% decline in operating profit in the first quarter compared with last year. But many factors affect sales and margins, and the firm is mainly a summer business, so this result means little. Advanced sales are strong.

Most US media and entertainment stocks sold off with the rest of the market. Notable companies that dropped as much or more than the broad market were Disney, Live Nation, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Roku.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company, with its multiple business lines serving virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

With a fourth quarter that consisted of a 2% sales decline and 80 basis points of operating margin expansion, Live Nation closed a solid 2024. Despite a 30% drop in stadium shows, 2024 sales grew by 2%, while adjusted operating income grew by 13% on one percentage point of margin expansion.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company, with its multiple business lines serving virtually all major components associated with holding live events. With younger adults continuing to prioritize live experiences, music streaming services increasing the exposure and popularity of artists across countries, and artists emphasizing touring, Live Nation is not short on growth opportunities. We believe the firm’s vertical integration and global footprint make it better able to capitalize on the opportunities than smaller competitors that don’t offer a full menu of services.

With fewer major stadium shows during the third quarter, narrow-moat Live Nation’s revenue was unsurprisingly down substantially. However, operating income growth was impressive, and there were several encouraging signs that portend strong sales growth in 2025. Beyond stadium shows, all underlying metrics look strong, notably continued solid growth in events and fans’ spending at events. We'll wait until the firm’s Nov. 13 investor meeting before finalizing our model, but barring major revelations, we plan to raise our $105 per share fair value estimate by a mid-single-digit percentage on a stronger near-term forecast.

Considering Live Nation was without the stadium-tour tailwinds that buoyed its business in 2023, it had a very good second quarter. Revenue continued to grow at an attractive clip, and the relatively lower level of stadium events boosted the operating margin. With our view that conditions will often be more favorable than they have been in 2024, we like the firm's long-term growth prospects. Although the antitrust lawsuit that the US Department of Justice filed in May will probably be an overhang on the stock through 2025, we're maintaining our $105 fair value estimate. We believe the firm's scale and current leadership position as a concert promoter and in the ticketing industry, which are key features behind our narrow-moat rating, will result in Live Nation maintaining its share in what we expect to be a continually growing concert industry.