-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
LYV received a U.S. court jury's verdict late yesterday awarding $1.72/ticket in damages (est. $700M) after determining LYV monopolized ticketing services, concert ticketing, and concert venue markets. Our legal analyst at Washington Analysis, CFRA's policy business, sees 20% odds of a company breakup. We see the DOJ accepting the efficacy of the terms of settlement it reached with LYV, although we may see LYV appeal the jury's decision. There could be a post-trial motion to cut back the verdict by Judge Subramanian, as indicated from significant issues raised by LYV that argued the states' lawsuits failed to establish factual support on harm to competition and damages to the public. LYV's motion to exclude the states' damages expert is already briefed and Judge Subramanian could decide it soon. Washington Analysis says that state attorney generals may have strong incentives to settle, creating another news cycle about how they took it to LYV and delivered ticket savings to consumers. We keep our Hold view.