By Katherine Sayre and Dave Michaels
Live Nation reported higher sales in its latest quarter driven by demand for concerts, less than two weeks before the company faces a federal antitrust trial.
The world's largest concert promoter on Thursday said fourth-quarter revenue climbed 11% to $6.31 billion, topping analyst estimates of $6.1 billion, according to FactSet.
Sales from concerts gained 12%, to $5.15 billion. Ticketing sales were up 1% and sponsorship and advertising sales increased 17%. Full-year fan attendance hit 159 million, up 5% from 2024, said Live Nation, which owns ticketing giant Ticketmaster.
Live Nation reported a loss of $54.8 million, or 24 cents a share, for last year, compared with a profit of $647.4 million, or $2.74 a share, in the prior year, including the accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interests. Analysts expected a loss of 33 cents a share for the year.
Chief Executive Michael Rapino said Live Nation is eyeing a record-breaking 2026, with the company citing huge demand for tours by artists including Bruno Mars, Harry Styles and BTS. The company is expanding its footprint and investing in upgraded infrastructure, and has a deep pipeline of large-scale shows as ticket demand continues to grow, he said.
Live Nation heads to trial with the Justice Department starting March 2 in Manhattan over whether it illegally monopolized the markets for concert booking and ticketing. The Justice Department is seeking an order that would force the company to divest Ticketmaster from the rest of the company. Nearly 40 states joined the lawsuit and are pressing their own damages claims on behalf of consumers.
The Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger was allowed by the Justice Department in 2010. Since then, according to the Justice Department's complaint, the company and a group of industry insiders have used their power to dominate tours, venues, ticketing and "virtually every aspect of the live music ecosystem."
The lawsuit alleges that Live Nation illegally ties its amphitheaters, promotion services and ticketing, meaning artists or venues can't use one without the other.
Live Nation has denied the government's allegations of monopolistic behavior and said the company should not be broken up. Dan Wall, Live Nation's executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, said in a Thursday statement that a breakup was "implausible and improper."
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that most of the department's case is ripe for trial, although Live Nation quickly asked him to consider whether some of the claims he dismissed should also sink the department's tying allegation.
Live Nation has asked Subramanian to hold separate trials for the federal and state claims. If the judge grants the request, Subramanian would decide the Justice Department's claims on his own, while a jury would later hear the states' allegations.
Joe Berchtold, Live Nation's president and chief financial officer, said Thursday that the judge's decision to dismiss some of the claims would make it harder for the government to prove its breakup case.
"They need to demonstrate that Ticketmaster's so-called monopoly harms the venues, not that they could just say it harms fans, which would be a more emotional topic," Berchtold told analysts. "We think that also makes the case somewhat more difficult for them."
Write to Katherine Sayre at katherine.sayre@wsj.com and Dave Michaels at dave.michaels@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 19, 2026 19:36 ET (00:36 GMT)
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