Warner Music Group posts biggest stock gain of week led by streaming companies

Shares of Warner Music Group rose 6.6% to $31.47 this week, limiting the year-to-date loss to 12.1%. Other gainers in the record label and music publishing space were HYBE, up 1.8% to 200,500 won ($144.95) and Universal Music Group, up 1.4% to 28.63 euros ($30.67 $).

However, streaming companies had the best week. Led by LiveOne's 6.4% gain, streaming music stocks were up an average of 0.3% — versus an average decline of 0.3% for labels and publishers. Elsewhere, Tencent Music Entertainment gained 5.2% to $14.80 and Spotify rose 1.6% to $313.02. The three companies also own three of the top four year-to-date performances: Live One is up 30.0%, Tencent Music is up 64.3% and Spotify is up 66.6%. The fourth company in this equation is the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which is up 41.4% on the back of its upcoming acquisition by Blackstone.

Despite overall strength among streaming companies, three of them posted losses. Cloud Music fell 2.4% to HKD 103.00 ($13.19), paring its year-over-year gain to 14.8%. Anghami lost 2.8% to $1.03, bringing the stock's year-to-date loss to 1.0%. And Deezer stumbled 6.1% to 1.86 euros ($1.99), taking its year-to-date loss to 12.7%.

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index It rose 1.1% to 1,820.01, taking its year-to-date gain to 18.7% and its 52-week improvement to 36.5%. Although the index posted a small gain, 11 of its 20 stocks lost value compared to seven gainers and two that were unchanged.

While overall music stocks managed only a small gain, the Nasdaq composite rose 3.2% to 17,688.88 and enjoyed a fifth consecutive record close on Friday (June 14). The eS&P 500 improved 1.6% to 5,431.60. South Korea's KOSPI composite rose 1.3 percent to 2,758.42. On the losers' side, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.6 percent to 3,032.63 and Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.2 percent to 8,146.86.

However, the Billboard Global Music Index is surpassing these major indicators in 2024. Through June 14, the Nasdaq is up 17.8% and the S&P 500 is up 13.9%. Indexes in other countries have made smaller gains. The FTSE is up 5.3%, the KOSPI is up 3.9% and the Shanghai Composite is up 1.9%.

Shares of LiveOne improved 6.4% to $1.82 after the company was announced had surpassed 3.8 million total members, a 25% year-over-year increase, while Tesla memberships grew to 1.8 million, up 32% year-over-year (nearly all new Tesla vehicles sold in the U.S. come with a paid subscription to LiveOne's Slacker Radio). “Our goal is to forge meaningful alliances with companies that share our passion for innovation, custom programming and delivering exceptional customer value.” Brad Concolehead of Slacker Radio, said in a statement.

Shares of Live Nation fell 2.0% to $88.75 as the company continued to lose ground in the wake of a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to break up the company's concert promotion and ticketing businesses. CFRA Research cut its price target on Live Nation to $98 from $105 on Wednesday (June 12). While its earnings-per-share estimates were unchanged, CFRA chose a more conservative valuation multiple to reflect “business risk from the Justice Department and live entertainment moving into the slowest part of the year since October,” an analyst . Kenneth Leon He wrote.

The Billboard Global Music Index's biggest loser of the week came from Cumulus Media, which fell 18.1% to $1.94. Shares of the Atlanta-based radio company are down 63.5% year-to-date. Radio affiliate iHeartMedia fell 3.2% to $1.21 this week, bringing its year-to-date loss to 54.7%.