Live Nation Shares Soar Following Record First Quarter Earnings Report

Live Nation’s share price shot up 15% on Friday (May 5) following its first quarter earnings report, which showed the concert promotion giant beating expectations and closing out another record quarter with $3.1 billion in revenue.

Live Nation shares soared in after-hours trading following the upbeat earnings call, opening the day 13.1% higher than Thursday’s closing price of $67.09, before closing the week out at $77.16 — marking an 11.6% increase over the last month. Despite four consecutive quarters of robust earnings, Live Nation’s share price has struggled lately, dragged down from a high of $126 per share in February 2022 by both macroeconomic conditions related to monetary policy and fears of a recession, as well as shareholder concerns over regulatory pressure and long-term artist headliner availability.

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino told investors on an earnings call that the company faced concerns about artist availability prior to the first quarter, only to see total show volume increase significantly over last year.

“Hopefully, we put that to bed,” he told investors. “We don’t think this has anything to do with pent-up demand or COVID rescheduling. That stuff has long been closed out in ’22. This is all about regular business and I think we’re thrilled to be sitting here today above and beyond last year’s numbers. It shows the global strength of the business from the amphitheater and the stadium to the club and the festival. We’re looking at all territories around the world and firing on all cylinders.”

When it came to the availability of talent, Rapino said he had no concerns about the next generation of headliners, noting that “six of the top 10 artists were younger artists … there’s just a host of great new talent every year coming up, filling the pipe. We didn’t know Luke Combs was going to be selling stadiums out this year. Two years ago, we had no idea Bad Bunny was going to be the largest-selling artist. There’s more and more artists sitting in the studio right now on TikTok all wanting to be the next Bad Bunny.”