LYV Hits New High

Barron’s asked rhetorically if Live Nation is the ultimate Millennial company in an April 3 item, citing a Goldman Sachs note to clients written the same day by analyst Drew Borst giving Live Nation stock a “Buy” rating.

– Live Nation
null

On April 5, LYV stock price ended the trading day at an all-time high of $31.34 per share.

“We believe Live Nation should benefit from demand growth from changing consumer demand trends such as the ‘millennial experience economy,’ a growing preference to spend on experiences over material goods,” Borst wrote.

In addition to the “Buy” rating, Borst predicted shares could rise to $35 per share, an increase of about 15 percent.

Barron’s points out that live music is a growing industry, and “as a business is expanding faster than the overall economy.”

In addition, Barron’s pointed to the resale market as additional reason to be optimistic about LN unit Ticketmaster, which it says is gaining ground on StubHub with 20 percent of the market. StubHub may have a solid hold with 55 percent, Barron’s said, but the rest of the market is “highly fragmented” and “represents a potential opportunity” for LN.

Goldman Sachs apparently agrees.

“As the world’s largest concert promoter … and ticketing platform, LYV is uniquely positioned to benefit from secular growth in global concerts and gain market share,” Borst wrote in his note to clients, according to CNBC.com.  

“Touring has become increasingly important to artists’ income, given the decline in album sales. On the demand side, the millennial ‘experience economy’ is fueling steady attendance growth in a wide array of live music events.”