For the quarter ended September 2026, Live Nation (LYV) reported revenue of $10.11 billion, up 18.9% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $1.69, compared to $0.73 in the year-ago quarter.
The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.57 billion, representing a surprise of +5.55%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +12.67%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $1.50.
While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.
As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.
Here is how Live Nation performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Concerts - Estimated Attendance - International: 25.18 million versus 21.54 million estimated by three analysts on average. Ticketing - Total Fee-Bearing Number of Tickets Sold: 98.25 million compared to the 91.16 million average estimate based on three analysts. Concerts - Estimated Attendance - Total: 61.09 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 56.65 million. Concerts - Estimated Attendance - North America: 35.92 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 35.11 million. Concerts - Estimated Events - Total: 13.14 million compared to the 13.5 million average estimate based on three analysts. Ticketing - Total Non-Fee-Bearing Number of Tickets Sold: 65.45 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of 65.42 million. Ticketing - Total Global Number of Tickets Sold: 163.7 million compared to the 157.15 million average estimate based on two analysts. Concerts - Estimated Events - International: 3.99 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of 3.81 million. Revenue- Concerts: $8.75 billion versus the five-analyst average estimate of $8.24 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +20.1%. Revenue- Other and Eliminations: $-17.4 million compared to the $-21.57 million average estimate based on five analysts. The reported number represents a change of -26.6% year over year. Revenue- Sponsorship & Advertising: $505.7 million versus $501.16 million estimated by five analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +14.2% change. Revenue- Ticketing: $870.3 million compared to the $812.5 million average estimate based on five analysts. The reported number represents a change of +9.1% year over year.View all Key Company Metrics for Live Nation here>>>
Shares of Live Nation have returned +7.2% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -0.4% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
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Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).