Live Nation Entertainment (LYV -0.69%) is a top concert promotion firm and ticketing organization. It markets itself as the single largest live entertainment company in the world. The company was founded in 2010 following the widely publicized merger of Live Nation with Ticketmaster.
It was a bumpy road to get regulators to approve the merger after the two companies first reached their agreement in 2009. In the United States, the Justice Department only agreed to approve the merger under certain conditions.
Ticketmaster was required to sell its self-ticketing company and license its software to a competing entertainment group. The Justice Department also required Live Nation to submit to a 10-year court order barring it from retaliation against venues that pursued ticket contracts with competitors.
NYSE: LYV
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The company has been working on its financials over the last few years following the doldrums of the COVID-19 pandemic when concerts and sporting events came to a screeching halt. At the height of the crisis in 2020, Live Nation's revenue plunged by more than 90%.
Its growth has returned since that time, with record demand for live events fueling a strong financial comeback in recent years. In 2024, Live Nation Entertainment connected more than 151 million fans to more than 50,000 Live Nation events.
Live Nation has come under legal and regulatory scrutiny numerous times since the merger that created the current company. In May 2024, the Justice Department announced that it was suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster for anti-competitive practices. The antitrust lawsuit included allegations that the company has maintained a monopoly in primary ticketing and used coercive practices to get venues to sign multiyear contracts.
The company has also come under general public scrutiny for claims of price-gouging, which it has vehemently pushed back against. The outcome of a government lawsuit is still pending.
For investors, there's still a lot to like and consider about this stock. Many Wall Street analysts appear to be quite bullish on the business. Its shares rose 40% between January and September 2025. If you're interested in buying shares of Live Nation Entertainment stock, here's what you need to know about how to invest in the stock, whether the company is profitable, whether it pays a dividend, and more.
How to buy Live Nation Entertainment
Because Live Nation is a publicly traded company, any investor with a brokerage account can buy shares. You can buy whole or fractional shares of Live Nation, depending on the degree of exposure you want to the stock, or you can invest in a fund that holds shares of the stock, like an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
- Open your brokerage account: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
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Should I invest in Live Nation Entertainment?
Whether or not you should invest in Live Nation Entertainment will depend on your investing style, risk tolerance, and the type of stock that you are looking to add to your portfolio. The company is the leader in the entertainment and concert ticket industry globally, with a dominant footprint both domestically and abroad; 60 million people attended shows in venues operated by Live Nation in 2024.
In fiscal year 2024, Live Nation reported revenue of $23.16 billion, a 2% increase from the year prior. The company divides its reportable segments into three areas: concerts, ticketing, and sponsorship/advertising.
Live Nation's concert segment includes event promotion, venue management, music festival production, and and artist management solutions. It's the primary driver of growth and accounted for about 82% of the company's total revenue in 2024. Revenue in this segment is derived from sources like ticket sales, concessions sales, parking sales, premium seating sales, rental income, ticket rebates, and service charges.
The ticketing segment, which made up almost 13% of revenue in 2023, sells tickets on behalf of clients and keeps a portion of the service charge as fees. Live Nation's ticketing segment facilitates sales for its own events and third-party clients.
The sponsorship and advertising segment makes money by providing services such as creating marketing programs to connect brands with fans and artists and developing custom events. The sponsorship and advertising business totaled about 5% of Live Nation Entertainment's revenue in 2024.
If you want to invest in the potential of the live entertainment industry and its long-term growth runway, Live Nation is arguably one of the top contenders you ought to consider, given the size and scale at which it operates in this highly lucrative market.
On the other hand, the seasonality of the industry that Live Nation operates in presents a certain level of risk, as do its ongoing litigation issues. Although these are headwinds that Live Nation could be well poised to overcome, potential investors should weigh these factors alongside their preferred risk appetite to determine whether buying shares is a sound next move.
Is Live Nation Entertainment profitable?
Live Nation Entertainment is profitable. In fiscal year 2024, Live Nation reported net income of $1.1 billion. That was compared to the $703.8 million it reported in 2023. Over the trailing 12 months, the company has also brought in operating cash flow of approximately $1.7 billion.
Does Live Nation Entertainment pay a dividend?
Live Nation Entertainment does not pay a dividend. There haven't been any announcements that management plans to initiate a dividend.
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
Will Live Nation Entertainment stock split?
Live Nation Entertainment stock has never split. Usually, a company splits its stock when shares have become inaccessible for many investors due to successive share price gains. The stock's all-time high is still below $200 per share, so a stock split seems unlikely any time soon. Management has not mentioned any plans to split the stock either.
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The bottom line on Live Nation Entertainment
Live Nation Entertainment stock is a market leader in the concert, live events, and ticketing spaces. The company has dealt with its fair share of headwinds the last few years, from pandemic-induced shutdowns to regulatory upheaval, but its financials are showing promising recovery, it remains profitable, and core business growth is solid.
While Live Nation might not be the right fit for every portfolio, its global footprint and strengthening financials may be attractive to investors. Growth-oriented investors with the risk appetite to invest in a company that is affected by factors like seasonality and consumer spending patterns may find that even a modest position in Live Nation could pay off in the long run.
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