Josh Brown shares why he’s all in on Live Nation, and two other stocks he likes
Josh Brown remains a fan of Live Nation Entertainment even after a jury ruled that the concert giant had an anticompetitive monopoly over big concert venues . A Manhattan federal jury reached the decision on Wednesday after four days deliberating the civil case, initially led by the U.S. federal government. Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation, is one of the world’s largest ticket sellers for live events. The civil case accused the company of taking out its competition, for instance, by banning venues from using multiple ticket sellers. But Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, saw this ruling as a chance to own the stock. “Buy the verdict. If you seriously want to trade on legal rulings, the time to get out is when the investigation is announced, or when the state [attorneys general] are grandstanding,” he said on CNBC’s ” Halftime Report ” on Thursday. “That was two years ago. That happened in June of 2024; I’ve never sold the stock since. I’m a huge believer that this is one of the best entertainment-related companies in the world.” Over the past year, Live Nation stock has jumped 28%. Shares fell after Wednesday’s ruling, but were recouping lost ground in Thursday’s session. Brown compared the case to ones faced by Apple and Alphabet , which alleged the two tech titans had monopolized internet search engines. He noted that investors who sold Alphabet after it lost the case in August 2024 missed out on shares doubling since. GOOGL mountain 2024-06-01 GOOGL price chart “I certainly would not be a seller on this news. Big Live Nation can weather it,” he added. “In the end, the consumer likes the interoperability of the venue they’re attending the show at, with the ticketing process and a lot of the quote ‘high’ prices of tickets, that’s the artists hiding behind the ticketing companies really making that money. I know the fans don’t want to hear that. Sorry, your hero likes money.” Brown also made the case to own Exxon Mobil after Barclays reiterated its overweight rating on the oil company on Thursday. Brown said he is still long the stock as shares are trading off the highs hit in late March. “In an oil price spike scenario, usually it’s an elevator up, but a feather floating down, in terms of prices at the pump. The people who own the gas stations do not say, ‘oh, the war is going better. Well, let me take down $1 off the price of diesel.’ It never works that way. I think these companies have more of a runway at increased prices,” he said. “I think crack spreads look great, no matter how you slice it. I think the sector will be okay.” Brown also said a breakout is underway for eBay shares. The e-commerce company’s stock last hit its current level around July and August, and has spent the past 10 months consolidating around this range. “We said on Tuesday, 100 bucks a share, get through there on convincing volume with good momentum and that’s actually a breakout, what we have today,” he said. “I am personally long the stock. As I said on Tuesday, I’m going to remain long unless — and until — this breakout is validated. But looks pretty healthy to me.” EBAY 1Y mountain EBay stock over the past year.
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