Live Nation Q1: Revenue up 17%, Highest Ever Q1 AOI

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Live Nation says 2019 is off to a strong start, with its first-quarter 2019 earnings showing revenue up 17% to $1.7 billion on the quarter, with an operating loss of $24 million (31 cents per share), and its highest-ever first-quarter adjusted operating income at $115 million.

Zacks Investment Research had predicted revenue of $1.59 billion, and a loss of 30 cents per share.

Live Nation’s other bullet points for the quarter include fan attendance up 22%, and concert tickets sold up 5% through mid-April.

Meanwhile, sponsorship and advertising committed net revenue for the full year is up double digits through mid-April.

“We continue to benefit from a global concerts industry that is structurally growing, with strong tailwinds for both supply and demand,” CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement ahead of the earnings call. “Our performance is further accelerated by our concerts flywheel driving additional profitable growth in our on-site, sponsorship, and ticketing businesses.”

Going forward, Rapino says, “With the combination of this near-term view plus concert ticket sales for the year, sponsorship commitments, and the continued success of the Ticketmaster platform, we expect that Live Nation will deliver double-digit operating income and AOI growth for the full year.”

Investors seemed unsurprised with the results, as after-hours trading showed little movement to the share price, which at $63.76 is up just less than 30% year to date compared to the S&P 500’s 16%.

Last year’s Q1 results were $1.48 billion in revenue and a per-share net loss of 24 cents, in what is typically the slowest concert season of the year.