Live Drives Comeback As Endeavor Reports Q1 Earnings

Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. – the sports and entertainment company whose holdings include WME, posted $1.474 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2022, the company reports, citing demand for clients including the resumption of concert touring, for driving the results.

Revenue growth across the representation sector grew double-digits over Q1 2019, the last comparable quarter prior to the industry disruption caused by the COVID pandemic. Net income was $517.7 million and adjusted EBITDA is $314.4 million.

Full year 2022 revenue guidance has been raised to a range of $5.235 billion to $5.475 billion, while adjusted EBITDA guidance is raised to $1.1 billion to $1.15 billion, according to the report.

“Our growth in the first quarter was driven by our ability to respond to the high demand for premium content and live events,” said Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel in a statement. “We feel great about where we sit relative to the secular tailwinds across all of our businesses, and we’ve raised our guidance for the fourth quarter in a row to reflect our positive outlook for the balance of the year.”

Representation segment revenue was $357.3 million for the quarter, up $108.4 million, or 44% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Growth was primarily driven by increased brand spending, as well as higher commissions resulting from continued strong demand for our talent and the recovery of live entertainment, primarily music and comedy touring. The segment’s Adjusted EBITDA was $101.7 million for the quarter, up $40.2 million, or 65%, year-over-year.

The report is good news for Endeavor, which went public last year with the successful filing for an IPO. A previous was pulled in September 2019. The pandemic hit Endeavor particularly hard, forcing the company at one point to furlough more than 30% of its staff in May 2020.