One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$100.18 our estimate vs market $186.59
Wall Street consensus: $185.43 (85.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
86% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
LYV · NYQ · Communication Services · Entertainment
Current price
$186.59
52-week range
$125.34 - $187.64
Market cap
$43.42B
Balance sheet
Distressed
3.90x Stretched
Net debt $1.51B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 1.6% last year.
- Reward Returns 14.9% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
- Risk Net debt grew 58.2% over 3 years.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 4.1% to -9.9% over 3 years.
What this company does
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
Live Nation Entertainment is a global live events company that promotes concerts and festivals, with its money coming mainly from selling tickets through its Ticketmaster platform and from corporate sponsorships. This business creates a powerful ecosystem (a network where different parts of the business help each other grow), as the company often controls the event, the venue, and the ticketing for a single show.
How the company got here
Live Nation became the entertainment giant it is today through a major merger in 2010 with Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticket seller. This deal brought together a leading concert promoter (a company that organizes and markets live shows) and the top ticketing platform under one roof. Before the merger, Live Nation started as a part of Clear Channel and was spun off into its own company in 2005. Over the years, it has grown by acquiring other companies, including music festival organizers and artist management firms, to control more aspects of the live event experience.
What it actually does
If you've ever been to a big concert, festival, or even some sporting events, there's a good chance Live Nation was involved. The company does everything from organizing and promoting the tours of major artists to operating the venues where they perform. It also owns Ticketmaster, the platform most people use to buy tickets for these events. Essentially, Live Nation has a hand in almost every part of the process of putting on a live show, from the artist's planning stages to the moment you scan your ticket at the door.
Concerts
This is the largest part of Live Nation's business by revenue (the total amount of money it brings in). This segment is responsible for organizing and promoting live music events, from massive stadium tours for global superstars to multi-day music festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. It also operates hundreds of its own venues, like amphitheaters and clubs, where it earns money from things like food and drink sales, parking, and merchandise. Artists and their teams work with this division to plan and execute their tours.
Ticketing
This part of the company is what most people know as Ticketmaster. It acts as the official seller of tickets for millions of events each year, not just for Live Nation's own concerts but also for sports teams, theaters, and other event organizers. For this service, the company charges fees on top of the ticket's face value, which is how it makes money in this segment. This division also provides the technology and services that venues use to manage their ticket sales and entry.
Sponsorship & Advertising
This is a smaller but very profitable slice of the company. This division works with other companies, or 'sponsors', who want to advertise to the millions of fans attending live events. You might see this in the form of a company's name on a venue or a tour, special branded areas at a festival, or ads on the Ticketmaster website. Brands pay Live Nation for this access to connect with a large and engaged audience.
What management is betting on now
The company is heavily focused on expanding its global reach, particularly by building and acquiring more venues in international markets like Latin America and Asia. By owning more of the physical spaces where events happen, they can better control the fan experience and create more opportunities for revenue. Management is also investing in technology, such as using artificial intelligence to improve ticket sales and creating more seamless in-venue experiences like cashless payments. The overall goal is to grow their fan base from 150 million to 200 million people by expanding into new markets and making the live event experience better.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$212.45M
FY2024 Q3
$-878.96M
FY2024 Q4
$890.24M
FY2025 Q1
$1.15B
FY2025 Q2
$-39.95M
FY2025 Q3
$-371.27M
FY2025 Q4
$-405.64M
FY2026 Q1
$2.03B
Revenue
$3.79B
Net income
$-389.10M
Diluted EPS
-1.85
Operating cash flow
$2.34B
Free cash flow
$2.03B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$6.31B
Net income
$-202.10M
Diluted EPS
-1.06
Operating cash flow
$-53.73M
Free cash flow
$-405.64M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$8.50B
Net income
$431.46M
Diluted EPS
0.73
Operating cash flow
$-95.68M
Free cash flow
$-371.27M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.01B
Net income
$243.41M
Diluted EPS
0.41
Operating cash flow
$223.47M
Free cash flow
$-39.95M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$3.38B
Net income
$23.20M
Diluted EPS
-0.32
Operating cash flow
$1.32B
Free cash flow
$1.15B
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$5.68B
Net income
$193.25M
Diluted EPS
0.58
Operating cash flow
$1.05B
Free cash flow
$890.24M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.65B
Net income
$451.81M
Diluted EPS
1.66
Operating cash flow
$-720.90M
Free cash flow
$-878.96M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$6.02B
Net income
$297.97M
Diluted EPS
1.03
Operating cash flow
$412.08M
Free cash flow
$212.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $100.18 vs current price $186.59
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $185.43 (85.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $100.18 a share — about 46.3% below today's price of $186.59, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $1.5B. Interest coverage 3.9x.
Net debt
$1.51B
Interest coverage
3.90x
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 3.9 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
LYV
BASELINE
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
Total debt $10.58B Interest coverage 3.90x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $4.96B Interest coverage 4.12x +6% vs LYV Has roughly the same debt cushion as LYV.
Total debt $1.17B Interest coverage 0.68x -82% vs LYV Carries about 5.7x less debt cushion than LYV.
Total debt $5.16B Interest coverage 2.43x -38% vs LYV Carries about 1.6x less debt cushion than LYV.
Total debt $938.37M Interest coverage -2.10x -100% vs LYV This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with LYV.
What you should know
The case for and against LYV
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 1.6% last year.
-
Returns 14.9% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 58.2% over 3 years.
-
Operating margin compressed from 4.1% to -9.9% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
—
Forward P/E
85.25x
P/B
-308.92x
P/S
1.70x
EV/EBITDA
31.13x
PEG ratio
17.88x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
25.9%
Operating margin
-9.9%
Net margin
0.3%
ROE
14.9%
ROA
2.2%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
7.38x
Current ratio
0.89x
Quick ratio
0.72x
Total debt
$10.58B
Total cash
$9.08B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$25.61B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
41.6%
EPS TTM
-1.77
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.41B
Free CF TTM
$333.61M
FCF margin
1.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—