Music shares — and shares basically — had a terrific week as Sphere Leisure Co., Tencent Music Leisure and Cloud Music posted double-digit beneficial properties and the 20-company Billboard World Music Index (BGMI) set a brand new excessive mark.
The BGMI rose 3.1% to an all-time excessive of two,794.37, bringing its year-to-date acquire to 31.5%. The index has overcome two downturns — one brought on by an escalation of commerce tensions, the opposite prompted by President Trump’s announcement of his tariff coverage — to surpass the earlier file of two,755.53 set on Feb. 14.
Sphere Leisure Co. gained 19.3% to $38.78. The corporate’s quarterly earnings, launched on Monday (Might 12), confirmed the Sphere venue was capable of reduce prices to offset a decline in event-related income. Buyers cheered the end result: flat working revenue slightly than a loss. As for tourism to Las Vegas, CEO James Dolan brushed apart considerations and stated demand for Sphere concert events is powerful sufficient to face up to a downturn ought to one come up.
China’s Tencent Music Leisure (TME) jumped 18.0% to $18.62 after the corporate reported on Tuesday (Might 13) a 17% increase in music subscription income within the first quarter. Following earnings, CFRA upped its price target to $18 from $17 however downgraded its score to “maintain” from “purchase.” TME, which operates Kugou Music, QQ Music and Kuwo Music, completed the quarter with 122.9 million subscribers, up 8.3% from the prior-year interval.
One other Chinese language music streamer, Netease Cloud Music, rose 12.6% to 203.40 HKD ($26.03) after the corporate’s monetary outcomes, launched on Thursday (Might 15), confirmed an 8.4% drop in income that the corporate attributed to a decline in its social leisure enterprise. The scant Q1 numbers didn’t present particulars on the web music aspect of the enterprise, however the two sides of the enterprise are moving into reverse instructions. In 2024, social leisure income fell 26% whereas on-line music income grew 23%.
Not solely had been TME and Cloud Music among the many prime performers of the week, they’re among the many largest gainers in 2025. Yr up to now, TME shares are up 49.1% whereas Cloud Music has gained 81.3%. SM Leisure’s 64.9% acquire is the second-best amongst music shares.
Dwell Nation improved 8.2% to $147.68 this week regardless of information that the corporate and AEG Presents are going through a criminal antitrust probe by the U.S. Division of Justice over pandemic-era refund insurance policies. Dwell Nation shares are nonetheless effectively under the all-time excessive of $157.75 reached on Feb. 21, however they’ve gained 14.0% yr up to now and are up 52.9% during the last 52 weeks.
Spotify, the index’s most dear element, rose 1.2% to $656.30. Guggenheim raised its worth goal to $725 from $675 on the heels of a judge’s favorable ruling in Epic Video games v. Apple. Guggenheim sees the ruling, which permits Spotify to show pricing choices inside the iOS app, as useful to audiobook monetization.
German live performance promoter CTS Eventim gained 3.2% to 111.90 euros ($124.90). Barclays started covering the corporate with a 130 euro ($145.12) worth goal and an “obese” score.
Elsewhere within the index, Common Music Group and Warner Music Group gained 0.9% and 1.2%, respectively, and HYBE improved 1.9%. SiriusXM jumped 5.4%.
Solely 4 of the BGMI’s 20 shares misplaced worth this week. SM Leisure was the week’s largest loser with a 5.2% drop. Imagine fell 1.3%, Deezer dipped 1.5% and iHeartMedia dropped 1.6.%.
Shares had been up globally however carried out particularly effectively within the U.S. The Nasdaq composite rose 7.2% and the S&P 500 improved 5.3%. Within the U.Ok., the FTSE 100 was up 1.5%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index gained 1.9%. China’s SSE Composite Index rose 0.8%.
Buyers had been inspired by a discount of U.S. tariffs on Chinese language items whereas the 2 nations proceed to barter a commerce deal. Goldman Sachs lifted its estimate for the S&P 500 on Tuesday as tensions over tariffs eased between the U.S. and China.
There may be nonetheless uncertainty in regards to the U.S. financial system, nonetheless. Since final week, quite a few reviews have warned of a sharp slowdown on the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest port. This week, Walmart CFO John David Rainey stated excessive tariffs might trigger the corporate to raise prices by the tip of the month. And on Friday (Might 16), the College of Michigan’s intently watched index of shopper sentiment fell to its second-lowest level on file.
Billboard
Billboard
Billboard