Live Nation Stock Drops Nearly 50% Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, has seen it’s stock tumble this week as the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic impacts global markets.

A short time ago, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino had an auspicious outlook on the potential impact coronavirus could have on the music industry: “Most of our business doesn’t start until the middle of June onwards. So the next few months, we’ll have some cancellations, I assume, here and there in some arenas and clubs, but the heart of our business happens this summer,” he said during an earnings call at the end of February.

Now, just a couple of weeks later, the industry has seen a barrage of tour, event, and festival cancellations, like SXSW, Coachella, Ultra Music Festival, and countless others, leading to an annihilation of the Live Nation stock price.

The downward trend started less than a month ago when Live Nation’s stock price sat at a high of $76.08 on February 19th. Within eight days the company’s stock price had dropped by nearly 25% to $57.75. A slight push back towards $60 gave some hope before crashing all the way down to $42.01 at close on Wednesday (3/11), a nearly 50% loss of value over a one-month span, and the company’s lowest stock price since April 23rd, 2018. At some points during Thursday’s trading, the stock price briefly dropped below $32, before rebounding back towards $40.

While more live event postponements and cancellations are likely, it’s difficult to predict how this will further impact Live Nation and its subsidiaries, and the music industry as a whole.

[H/T Digital Music News]