The Sphere venue in Las Vegas isn't making a profit, but it's doing enough to encourage investors to buy its owner, Sphere Entertainment Co.
Shares of Sphere Entertainment rose 13.8% to $40.29 this week after the company's quarterly earnings report on Monday (February 5th) showed that the state-of-the-art venue – which is currently eye-catching ahead of Super Bowl in Las Vegas on Sunday – grossed $167.8 million and had an adjusted profit of $14 million (adjusted for certain items, including a $117 million non-cash impairment related to the company's failed bid to open a Sphere in London) .
Sphere Entertainment was the top-performing music stock in a week that saw music stocks soar, with the 20-company Billboard Global Music Index gaining 3% to hit a record 1,636.43. While the numbers of winners and losers were even at 10 stocks each, most of the index's most valuable companies posted gains this week. Tencent Music Entertainment rose 6.7% to $9.67, Live Nation improved 1.5% to $89.53 and Universal Music Group gained 1.2% to 27.41 euros ($29.55). .
Spotify, another of the index's biggest companies, gained 8.2% to $240.77 after its earnings results on Tuesday (Feb 6) showed its number of subscribers rose to 236 million, up 10 million. quarter, and that revenue rose 16% to 3.67 billion euros ($4.05 billion). The share price hit its highest point since December 2021 as investors found renewed faith in Spotify following its decision to cut 17% of its workforce in December. Spotify has always had a good product. Now, there's a growing sense that it might be a good thing businessvery.
“The market now views the potential of this business,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a Wednesday (Feb. 7) note to investors, “as a record. [monthly active user] The net additions and subscribers come alongside price increases and an aggressive shift towards cost efficiency.” Stronger revenue growth and the potential for better margins led Morgan Stanley to raise its Spotify price target from $250 to $270.
The major indexes also gained this week, and one hit a major threshold: The S&P 500 closed above 5,000 for the first time on Friday as it rose 1.4% to 5,026.61, while the Nasdaq composite improved 2 .3% to 15,990.66, its highest level since , thanks to big gains from chipmaker Nvidia and e-commerce giant Amazon. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 7,572.58. South Korea's KOSPI composite rose 0.2 percent to 2,620.32. China's Shanghai Composite index jumped 5 percent to 2,865.90.
It's been a busy week for corporate earnings reports. CTS Eventim shares rose 5.5 percent to 66.90 euros ($72.12) after the company's fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. The German concert promoter's 2023 revenue reached €2.4bn, up 22.5%, and EBITDA improved 31.9% to €501.4m.
Shares of Warner Music Group ( WMG ) rose briefly after its earnings results on Thursday — with the stock up 5.1% to $38.05 — but ended the day down 2.5% and the week down 2.6% to $35.71. Morgan Stanley analysts remained “overweight” on WMG and kept their price target at $42. Guggenheim analysts reiterated their “buy” rating and maintained their $46 price target.
Shares of MSG Entertainment rose 9% to $36.81 after the company released its second-quarter earnings results on Wednesday. The New York-based live entertainment company raised its full-year revenue guidance by 10% to a range of $930 million to $950 million. Executive Chairman/CEO James Dolan attributed the strong quarter to “record results” from Spectacular Christmas production, the long-running show with the Radio City Rockettes.
LiveOne shares fell 2.1% after PodcastOne reported a 22% rise in revenue for the first nine months of the fiscal year on Thursday (February 8). (LiveOne fended off PodcastOne in 2023 and retained a 73% share.) PodcastOne ranked No. 10 in Podtrac's top publisher rankings and achieved a US audience of 5.3 million, but its net loss grew from $3 million to 13.7 million dollars.
