Robust Ticket Sales to Aid Live Nation's (LYV) Q3 Earnings
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. LYV is scheduled to report third-quarter 2021 results on Nov 4, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 33.3%.
Q3 Estimates
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third-quarter bottom line is pegged at a loss of 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.45 in the year-ago quarter. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $2.12 billion, compared with $184 million reported in the prior-year quarter.
Factors to Note
Live Nation Entertainment’s third-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from pent-up demand for live events and robust ticket sales in the United States and the U.K. This along with increased demand for digital ticketing and contactless transactions might have contributed to the upside. Previously, the company announced that its U.S. concerts are now fully open.
Enhanced vaccinations in Canada and Europe may have favored the company. Increased focus on digitalization along with artist-driven initiatives and strong international demand might have driven the to-be-reported quarter’s performance.
The coronavirus pandemic has been acting as a boon for Ticketmaster. Demand for digital ticketing has been increasing as venues as well as artists are looking for contactless transactions amid the pandemic.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter concert revenues stands at $1,605 million, compared with $155 million in the prior-year quarter. The consensus mark for revenues from Ticketing, and Sponsorship and Advertising are pegged at $354 million and $95 million, up from the prior-year quarter figures of ($19.8) million and $47.9 million, respectively.
Live Nation Entertainment continues to focus on cost saving efforts amid the pandemic. The company has been reducing discretionary spending and implementing several cost saving efforts. It has limited all non-essential capital outlays. These efforts have helped the company to achieve $950 million in cost reductions and $1.65 billion in cost savings in 2020. In 2021, the company plans to reduce costs by $800 million and cash spending by $1.5 billion relative to the pre-pandemic baseline.
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. Quote
What the Zacks Model Unveils
Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Live Nation Entertainment this time around. Per our proven model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that's not the case here.
Earnings ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.
Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks With Favorable Combination
Here are some companies in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector, which according to our model have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat.
Golden Entertainment, Inc. GDEN has a Zacks Rank #1 and an Earnings ESP of +18.44%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Accel Entertainment, Inc. ACEL has a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of +20.00%.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. CHH has a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of +6.44%.
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