Live Nation 3Q Earnings Snapshot: $172.7 Million Profit

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Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LYV) on Thursday reported third-quarter profit of $172.7 million.

The Beverly Hills, California-based company said it had profit of 70 cents per share. 

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 64 cents per share.

The ticket seller and concert promoter posted revenue of $3.84 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.68 billion. Live Nation boasted that this $3.84 billion represented an 11 percent increase year-over-year.

Operating income also increased 16 percent to $234 million and the company reported 85 million concert tickets sold, a 5 million ticket increase over last year. There were also gains in sponsorship and advertising revenue and Ticketmaster fee-bearing gross transaction value. 

“As we approach the end of 2018, we are confident that our strong performance will deliver another record year of results. All of our businesses — concerts, sponsorship and ticketing — have delivered growth year-to-date through September, and based on their key operating metrics, we expect each to deliver record revenue, operating income, and AOI for the full year,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino wrote in a statement. “As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue the global expansion of our concerts and ticketing businesses, and for further growth in sponsorship and ticketing from the concerts flywheel.”

Live Nation shares have climbed 25 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $53.28, an increase of 25 percent in the last 12 months.

During trading Nov. 2 LYV stock was up more than 3.5%, with a share price of 55.12, as the greater market indexes were down less than 1 percent.