Believe Shares Rise (Again) in WMG Interest, Sphere Stock Jumps and K-Pop Flops

(WMG) revealed its interest in acquiring the French music company.

Believe shares rose 2.5 percent to 15.88 euros ($17.38) after WMG announced its interest in distributor owner TuneCore, publishing manager Sentric and labels including Naïve and Groove Attack. Last week, Believe announced it had interest from an unnamed party, pushing the stock price above 15 euros ($16.52) per share from a consortium led by the CEO Denis Ladegaillerie and EQT and TCV investment funds. After the potential suitor was given a name, Believe's stock price rose even more. WMG, which has not made a formal bid, said it would pay “at least” 17 euros ($18.60) per share. Shares of WMG fell 4.4% to $33.93 this week.

With Believe trading at 15.88 euros ($17.38), investors don't seem convinced that WMG will make a bid at 17.00 euros. Not only will WMG have to go through regulatory scrutiny, the Ladegaillerie consortium has a head start and appears to be moving quickly to close the deal. Last week, the consortium said it waived the board's condition that an independent expert weigh the fairness of its offer to shareholders. WMG's announcement singled out the maneuver, stating that “WMG considers that such waiver violates certain rules of French securities regulations intended to protect shareholders (including their sellers and investors) and the Company and that the validity of such waiver would could be disputed.”

Shares of Sphere Entertainment Co. they rose 10.1 percent this week to $48.77, adding $127 million to the company's market cap and pushing the year-to-date gain to 43.5 percent. Three of the four live music companies posted gains in an otherwise muted week for music stocks: German promoter CTS Eventim gained 2.2% to 75.10 euros ($82.19), while Thursday (7 March), Live Nation shares topped $100 for the first time since May 2, 2022. The concert giant ended the week up 2.7% at $99.75.

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index fell 0.9 percent to 1,700.37 this week, as half the stocks gained, nine lost and one was unchanged. Streaming stocks averaged a 4.2% gain thanks to an 18.4% improvement from LiveOne music streaming. Abu Dhabi-based streaming company Anghami rose 3.2 percent. However, the biggest streaming companies lost ground. Spotify fell 1.6% to $259.40, a rare stumble for a stock that has gained 38.1% year to date. Deezer shares fell 0.4% to 2.24 euros ($2.45).

K-pop stocks fell across the board this week. JYP Entertainment, home to Twice and Stray Kids, fell 8.0%. SM Entertainment, home to aespa and Girls' Generation, fell 6.5%. HYBE sank 2.3% and YG Entertainment, the company behind BLACKPINK, slipped 1%. The four companies have an average year-over-year loss of 22.7%. HYBE's 16.7% decline in 2024 is the best of the group. Elsewhere, shares of JYP Entertainment are down 33.1%, and SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment are down 20.6% and 20.4%, respectively.

Stocks were mixed globally. In the United States, the Nasdaq composite fell 1.2 percent to 16,085.94 and the S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 5,123.69. US stocks hit new highs on Thursday after comments from the head of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell This indicated that the central bank will ease interest rates. “If the economy develops broadly as expected, it will probably be appropriate to start imposing policy restraint at some point this year,” Powell said. he said the Parliamentary Financial Services Committee on Wednesday (March 6).

Stocks ended the week lower after Friday US jobs report offered mixed messages to investors. Total confirmed payrolls rose by 275,000 in February, but at the same time, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 3.9% and wages rose just 0.1% in February – not necessarily welcome indicators, but perhaps signs that the Federal Reserve can proceed with future rate cuts without fear of the economy overheating.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,659.74 points. South Korea's KOSPI composite rose 1.4 percent to 2,680.35. China's Shanghai Stock Exchange index improved 0.6 percent to 3,046.02 points.