Live Nation stock (NYSE: LYV) parted with approximately 5.4 percent of its value following the tragedy that unfolded at Travis Scott’s Astroworld on Friday – as well as some 15 lawsuits that Scott and the Beverly Hills-based concert promoter are facing over the deadly episode.
When the market closed today, Live Nation stock – which cracked an all-time-high price of $127.75 per share last week following a strong third-quarter earnings report – was worth $117.14 per share. LYV briefly dipped into the low-$115 range this morning and rebounded to over $119 per share before settling at the disclosed day-end value, which marks a 5.38 percent falloff.
Notwithstanding this decline from Friday, however, Live Nation stock is still up roughly 12 percent during the past five days, 19.5 percent during the latter month, and a full 66 percent from 2021’s beginning.
One possible explanation of LYV’s continued strength is that certain value-minded investors are looking past the fallout of the deadly Astroworld tragedy and towards the 2022 growth that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino is forecasting. Live Nation generated $2.7 billion in Q3 2021 – up from $184 million during the same period in 2020 – and Rapino, anticipating similar results in 2022, relayed that “we will only continue to grow from here.”
Bearing the information in mind, financial professionals could be banking on a further stock-price surge – and more positive headlines – for Live Nation, which in April was the target of renewed scrutiny (and calls for an investigation) from members of Congress.
Of course, it’s also possible that Live Nation stock will lose a substantial portion of its value as a result of the Astroworld tragedy – and related litigation – moving forward. It goes without saying that the occurrence, which claimed the lives of eight attendees and caused hundreds of injuries, is far more serious than the above-highlighted congressional investigation as well as the pushback that Live Nation’s Ticketmaster faced amid the domestic onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And in addition to being named in many lawsuits from those affected by the Astroworld crowd rush, as mentioned, Live Nation could experience a near-term decline in attendees at music festivals and large concerts owing to safety concerns.
Lastly, Houston PD chief Troy Finner reiterated this afternoon that “our criminal investigation continues,” whereas Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, having previously indicated that “we had more security over there [at Astroworld 2021] than we had at the World Series game,” called on “our nation to join our city in remembrance and to uplift their families.”