Page 25 - Fortune-November 01, 2018

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LIVE NATION AAC TECHNOLOGIES YAHOO JAPAN
THE FUTURE 50 ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS JAPAN (YAHOY, $7)
U.S. (LYV, $50) CHINA (AACAY, $9)

3.3 3.2 3.2
1.9 1.4 2.6 0.6 2.5 0.7

10% INVESTORS IN this leader YOU MIGHT NOT have heard of SPAWNED AS a joint venture be-
tween Yahoo and telecom con-
in concert promotions and
AAC, but you’ve almost certainly
ticket sales got a boost in July
when news circulated about a heard from it. AAC is one of the glomerate SoftBank in 1996,
most advanced manufactur-
Yahoo Japan owns a mar-
potential acquisition by Sirius ers of miniature acoustic com- ket leading Internet portal in
Share of all XM, reportedly backed by Lib- ponents, like the tiny speakers its home country. Its stock has
large global erty Media (which owns 34% that sit inside iPhone handsets. slumped this year—a result of
Altaba, the successor to the
The behind-the-scenes sup-
of Live Nation). Instead, Sir-
companies ius purchased streaming ser- plier holds over 2,500 patents, U.S. version of Yahoo, deciding
that belong to vice Pandora, and its CEO said not just in acoustics but in hap- to offload its equity stake. De-
the technology that Live Nation is “not on my tics (touch-sensing tech), op- spite these headwinds, Yahoo
tics, and other miniaturized
mind right now.” Whether or
Japan’s aggressive investment
sector not a buyout happens, there tech. A trough in the smart- in e-commerce—including bol-
are plenty of reasons to be phone market this year has stering digital payments, turning
bullish about a company that pushed AAC’s first-half reve- office supplies vendor Askul into
has delivered a 26% annual nues down 2.5% and its share a subsidiary, and offering shop-
shareholder return over the price even lower, dropping 40% ping discounts to fend off ri-
past three years. It’s growing in 2018, but it’s well poised to vals like Amazon and Rakuten—
capitalize on the next up cycle.
its international presence—
suggests signs of a renewal.
44% attendance at its concerts Market value: $11.8 billion Market value: $17.6 billion
overseas has risen 58% in the
past two years, and revenue
per fan at its European festi-
Share of 2018 vals grew 12% this last quar-
ter. And with its control of
Future 50 Ticketmaster, Live Nation has
companies a big moat against competi-
thatbelong to tors in the U.S.
the technology Market value: $10.4 billion
sector

9

Number of
Future 50tech CROWD PLEASER
COUR TESY OF LIVE NATION EN TERTAINMEN T of $100 billion Concert ticket and
companies
with a market
capitalization
promotion giant Live
Nation has delivered
shareholders
or greater
returns averaging
26% annually over
the past three years.

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