Live Nation Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (LYV)

Live Nation Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of concert promoter Live Nation (NYSE: LYV ) sank as low as 16% on Friday after its quarterly revenue missed Wall Street expectations.

So what: Live Nation's third-quarter results weren't that ugly (revenue of $1.8 billion missed the consensus of $1.9 billion, while net income was largely in line with expectations), so it's safe to assume that this morning's overall market sell-off was fueling a big part of the panic. In fact, Mr. Market seems to smartening up, with the shares now down only about 6% at the time of this writing.

Now what: For the fourth-quarter, management warned that it could face a $10 million drop in ticket revenue if the NBA lockout isn't resolved. However, CEO Michael Rapino is confident that consumer demand for live events, in general, is strong and should continue to stabilize well into 2012. Live Nation's less-than-stellar fundamentals still make it an iffy long-term opportunity for me, but with business steadying and the stock trading close to its 52-week low, I wouldn't be surprised with any short-term pops.

Interested in more info on Live Nation? Add it to your watchlist.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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