HYBE was rocked by controversy this week after an audit of one of its subsidiaries, ADOR, reportedly revealed that the company's CEO, Min Hee Jin“intentionally led the plan to take management control of the subsidiary,” according to a statement sent by the company on Thursday (April 25).
HYBE shares fell 7.8% on Monday (April 22) and ended the week down 12.6% at 201,500 won ($146.22). HYBE later reported Min, which holds an 18% stake in ADOR, to the police for “breach of trust and other allegations” and asked her to step down, it said in the April 25 statement. The dispute added to HYBE's losses at a time when most music stocks are doing well. HYBE shares are down 13.7% year-to-date and 25.4% over the past year.
HYBE was the biggest loser in a week that saw shares of most music companies rise. In fact, five music stocks posted double-digit gains this week, and only 7 of the 20 stocks in The Billboard Global Music Index were losers. The index rose 3.2 percent to 1,756.98, snapping a two-week losing streak and extending its year-to-date gain to 14.5 percent.
The biggest gainer of the week was streaming company LiveOne, which rose 14.5% to $1.90 after providing two updates on its upcoming earnings releases. On Monday, the company said it expects fiscal 2024 revenue of $118.5 million, up 19% from $99.5 million a year earlier, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $14.4 million — about 32% over $10.9 million of EBITDA in the prior year. On Wednesday (April 24), LiveOne announced that PodcastOne expects revenue of $11.7 million in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024, up 32% year-over-year. LiveOne spun off from PodcastOne in 2023 and retained an 81% stake.
Two of the weeks best performing stocks also hit their highest levels in years. Reservoir Media improved 13.8% to $9.10, its highest closing price since the stock closed at $9.20 on May 4, 2022. Chinese music stream Tencent Music Entertainment gained 13.5% on 12, $88, its best closing price since closing at $13.02 on July 021.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) gained 12.9% to 1,038 pounds ($1.30) as Concord and Blackstone battle for control of the company's stock and 65,000-song portfolio. Notably, Friday's closing price was 5 cents, or 4%, above Concord's high bid of $1.25 a share, suggesting some investors expect the bidding process to continue. As HSF's board weighs its options amid a strategic review and building dispute with its investment adviser, Hipgnosis Song Management, a sale appears inevitable. “I think investors have been through such a rollercoaster, most of them just want their money back,” Round Hill Music CEO Josh Gross he said Advertising sign this week.
Spotify stock closed Friday up 5.0% at $289.59 after a bullish week. Shares rose 11.5% on Tuesday — and were up 19.2% intraday — after the company's first-quarter earnings report, but gave back nearly all of the gains over the next two days, falling 6.8% and 2, 3% on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Tuesday's (April 23) intraday high of $319.30 was Spotify's highest share price in three years. The last time Spotify traded above $319.30 was on March 8, 2021, when shares reached $323.04. The stock fell below $100, at $96.67, on April 27, 2022, and fell as low as $69.29 on November 4, 2022. Since that low a year and a half ago, as Spotify cut its workforce and focused on improving profit margins, its share price has increased by 218%.
Indices around the world posted gains this week. In the United States, the Nasdaq rose 4.2% to 15,927.90 and the S&P 500 improved 2.7% to 5,099.96. Both indexes were helped by Alphabet, which rose 10 percent to $173.69 on Friday after releasing first-quarter earnings and announcing a $70 billion buyback program. In the UK, the FTSE 100 rose 3.1% to 8,139.83 points. South Korea's KOSPI composite rose 2.5 percent to 2,656.33. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.8 percent to 3,088.64.
