Online event ticket reseller StubHub (STUB 13.79%) had an awful start to the stock trading week. The company's shares were aggressively sold off by investors, resulting in a nearly 14% decline in price on Monday. That compared most unfavorably to the relatively modest (0.9%) fall of the S&P 500 index.
Stubbed by speculation
The catalyst was a report in the Financial Times published and updated on Monday. Citing unnamed "government and industry figures," the newspaper reported that politicians in the U.K. aim to legally prohibit the resale of tickets at prices higher than their original value. The proposed ban is expected to be introduced by lawmakers on Wednesday, according to the story's sources.
Image source: Getty Images.
The move is aimed at cracking down on the many entertainment ticket resellers that crowd that country's market.
StubHub International operates in the U.K. and was once part of the American company. However, following the 2021 acquisition of the current StubHub by Viagogo the business was separated into two distinct and independent entities. Each has its own ownership and management structure.
NYSE: STUB
Key Data Points
Justifiable worries?
Nevertheless, the apparently impending regulatory push in the U.K. highlights a business that has been controversial for many years, particularly in these times of ever-rising prices for live events. Investors likely fear that such a resale-quashing effort could spread across the Atlantic to the U.S., putting the American StubHub in jeopardy.
I think that fear is overblown, as the current presidential administration is rightly seen as relatively business-friendly and unbothered by practices some might not be comfortable with. I wouldn't trade out of StubHub on this report.
