Live Nation Entertainment Inc. on Thursday stated that concert-ticket gross sales have elevated this 12 months, albeit at a slower price up to now, following an explosion in demand over the previous two years.
Executives for the corporate, which owns Ticketmaster and runs dozens of live performance venues, stated concert-ticket gross sales this 12 months had been “pacing up 6%,” with gross sales at amphitheaters and arenas up double-digits.
That compares with a 44% gross sales leap final 12 months in its live shows enterprise, which includes live performance promotions and manufacturing, and a 14% enhance in its ticketing phase, which handles promoting tickets. For this 12 months, administration stated it anticipated progress to be “weighted toward 2Q and 3Q compared to previous years.”
“The live-music industry reached new heights in 2023, and demand for live music continues to build,” Chief Executive Michael Rapino stated in a press release.
“Our digital world empowers artists to develop global followings, while inspiring fans to crave in-person experiences more than ever. At the same time, the industry is delivering a wider variety of concerts which draws in new audiences, and developing more venues to support a larger show pipeline,” he stated.
He added that he anticipated the entire firm’s companies to continue to grow, forecasting “double-digit” features in working earnings and adjusted working earnings this 12 months. He stated he noticed Live Nation’s profitability “compounding by double digits over the next several years.”
During the fourth quarter, Live Nation’s
LYV,
income jumped 36% 12 months over 12 months to $5.84 billion. That was effectively above analysts’ forecasts for $4.79 billion.
For 2023 general, Live Nation earned $1.37 a share, an enormous leap from a 12 months prior however beneath FactSet forecasts of $1.60 a share. The firm’s 2023 gross sales had been $22.75 billion, above estimates for $21.72 billion.
Shares rose about 4% after hours Thursday.
In the wake of Live Nation’s outcomes, analysts will possible be centered on the 12 months forward, and attempting to gauge whether or not the corporate’s outcomes can prime the large concert-industry rebound in 2022 and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which started final 12 months and runs by means of this 12 months. Management, in November, stated it was seeing “no sign of weaknesses” in demand.
They’ll even be possible be centered on any updates on the Justice Department’s investigation into Live Nation’s dimension and aggressive practices. Live Nation executives, in November, stated they believed that investigation was within the “mid-stages.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have lengthy confronted irritation from concertgoers and lawmakers for hidden charges and allegations from its smaller rivals that it restricts competitors. Musicians, in the meantime, have change into extra vocal concerning the challenges of incomes a residing whereas coping with miniscule streaming earnings and better touring prices.
In September, Live Nation stated it might cease so-called “merch-cuts” on artists’ merchandise gross sales — lengthy a supply of artist frustration — at dozens of its smaller golf equipment. Live Nation advised MarketWatch in October that change was “open-ended.” Some artists suspected the change wouldn’t final.
Shares of Live Nation are up 22.2% over the previous 12 months.
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
