Feb 19 (Reuters) – Live Nation Entertainment beat quarterly revenue estimates on Thursday, helped by sustained demand for concerts, sending its shares up around 3% in extended trading.
The company — a bellwether for discretionary spending and the health of the global entertainment sector — benefited from resilient demand for live experiences in arenas and amphitheaters, which continued to draw consumer spending.
Live Nation inadvertently published its earnings results on its website ahead of schedule.
Its concerts had a global attendance of 159 million fans in 2025, up from 151 million in the prior year.
Total tickets sold in the quarter ended December 31 stood at 180.4 million, compared with 155.2 million in the third quarter.
The company said its early 2026 ticket sales for Live Nation concerts were up double digits to about 67 million fans, with over 80% of large-venue shows already booked.
This momentum was helped by fan demand for shows from artists such as Bruno Mars, Harry Styles and BTS.
Separately, a federal judge on Wednesday allowed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation to proceed, after the U.S. government alleged the company used its control of concerts and ticketing to harm competition, clearing the way for a trial in March.
“The claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are responsible for high concert ticket prices and fees was, and is, false,” the company’s executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs, Dan Wall, said on Thursday evening.
Live Nation’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 11.1% to $6.31 billion, beating estimates of $6.11 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its revenue in the concerts segment rose 12% to $5.15 billion in the quarter, compared with estimates of $4.93 billion. Ticketing revenue edged up 1% to $846.2 million in the quarter, from $841.1 million a year ago.
The company reported a loss of $1.06 per share, compared with a profit of 56 cents per share a year earlier.
(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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