Live Nation Beats Street

Live Nation Entertainment beat expectations in the third quarter, with net income of $105.2 million and per-share increase of 49 cents, significantly besting Wall Street prognostications in its Q3 and year-to-date financials released Oct. 30.

The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 38 cents per share.

The company posted revenue of $2.5 billion for the period, compared with $2.3 billion one year ago, and is up 9 percent year-to-date. Adjusted operating income rose 17 percent, to $258.1 million, on the quarter and 11 percent, to $482.7 million, YTD.

The Artist Nation division, in part thanks to the addition of new artists under manager Guy Oseary’s Maverick wing including Madonna and U2, showed the highest percentage growth increase, up 18 percent on the quarter and 8 percent YTD.

Chief Operating Officer Joe Bechtold predicted the outlook for the rest of the year would be “robust” and the company is on track for a record year. In a question-and-answer session on the earnings call, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino was grilled about the rumored acquisition of C3 Presents.

“We historically don’t comment on acquisitions until we close them,” Rapino said. “It would be fair to say we’ve been vocal about our priorities, meaning growing our concert business including our festival business. “We’ve been underserved in the U.S. festival business and … it would make sense that we would be looking for a major U.S. festival acquisition, if the price and return are at the right level.”