Live Nation‘s stocks plunged on Wednesday, March 11 as the concert and live entertainment conglomerate saw their value drop a whopping $1.8 billion, or 16.5 percent, in just 24 hours. While Live Nation’s rough day did follow the general trends of the hurting stock market, the erratic activity shows just another wave of COVID-19’s still-developing ripple effect.
Just weeks ago, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino brushed off concerns of the coronavirus, expecting a brief bump in the road with “some cancellations.” The company regained some of its value after opening on Thursday morning, March 12 but still shows a near 40% decrease since the end of February.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 as a global pandemic, calling for countries to address the virus with “urgent and aggressive action.” Testing is still limited, but the United States surpassed 1,000 cases recently, prompting President Trump to ban travel between Europe and America.