Fool Checkup: Live Nation Entertainment Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Live Nation Entertainment (NYS: LYV) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Live Nation Entertainment met expectations on revenue and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased slightly and GAAP loss per share grew.


Gross margin expanded, operating margin improved, and net margin contracted.

Revenue details
Live Nation Entertainment booked revenue of $868.0 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see a top line of $867.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $849.4 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.37. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.43 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.37 for Q1 compared to -$0.27 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 37.9%, 230 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -4.8%, 330 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -8.0%, 230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.61 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.07.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.52 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.31.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 165 members out of 190 rating the stock outperform, and 25 members rating it underperform. Among 69 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 60 give Live Nation Entertainment a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Live Nation Entertainment is outperform, with an average price target of $12.80.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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