The tariff-driven market turmoil is delaying one of the entertainment world’s most closely-watched IPOs.
The online ticketing giant StubHub has put its planned IPO on pause, a source says, just a few weeks after first filing to go public. The company is said to be waiting for the markets to quiet down and clarity to resume, at which point it would be ready to resume its IPO planning.
StubHub filed its S-1 with the SEC in late March, disclosing a $2.8 million net loss in 2024 on $1.77 billion in revenue last year, the filing said, compared to more than $405 million in profit in 2023 on about $1.37 billion in revenue.
The company was betting that an insatiable demand for live events and concerts would make it an attractive investment. Of course, the current economic environment has the markets rattled and the future of live events somewhat uncertain.
StubHub’s model is based around users reselling tickets to concerts, major sporting events and other live ticketed events, with the company earning revenue most directly through fees it collects from purchases and sales on its platform set based on the price of the ticket.
If the live event business slows down, StubHub may see its business slow down as well.
The music business as a whole has seen rapid declines in recent days alongside the rest of the broader market.
Warner Music Group’s stock is down about 4.3 percent as of now, at $29.59, Live Nation stock is down 3.5 percent to $121.64, while Spotify’s stock is down 9.3 percent to $506.15.
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