On Thursday, August 5, Live Nation Entertainment, the nation’s dominant ticketing and concert promotions company, is scheduled to report its second quarter earnings, and the announcement follows a tough period for the company’s stock, which trades under the symbol LYV.
Slower than expected concert ticket sales this year have riled investors and led to significant declines in the stock price, which was trading at about $9.68 per share today, August 2, a little after 3 p.m. EDT. Thursday’s earnings conference call is scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT after the financial markets close.
Live Nation’s stock was trading at close to $17 per share less than a year ago, and the target price for the stock from an analyst had reached $19.50 per share within the next year.
Ben Mogil, analyst with investment bank Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, has since lowered his target price for the stock at least twice, and it is now at $14 per share. He rates the stock as a “buy.”
While such a target is within the company’s reach, Mogil said in a recent not to investors that there are still several risks to the target price, such as sponsorship availability; a drop in long-term lease renewals for some venues; and the “ability to obtain the promotional rights for key artists on economically viable terms for concert promotion in major markets,” among others.
For the second quarter, which ended June 30, Mogil is looking for revenues of $1.36 billion; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $99 million; and a drop in earnings per share of $0.09.
“Following what was clearly an exhaustive investor day just two weeks ago, we actually see the quarterly results as non-eventful as the company will not have any more insights into whether or not the downside scenario presented during the investor day is in play,” Mogil said, adding that among the things he will be looking at will be “whether or not the industry’s negative headlines of late have generated any pushback/apprehension from advertisers/sponsors.”