The DoJ and multiple states seem ready to sue the ticket company
Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:LYV) stock is 5.5% lower to trade at $95.90 this morning, after Bloomberg reported the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a group of states planned to sue the company today in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit is in regards to antitrust violations stemming from Ticketmaster's monopoly on live events, specifically concert ticket sales.
LYV is on track for its worst single-session decline since a post-earnings bear gap of 7.6% on April 16. Even with 7.4% quarterly drawdown, the shares aren't far off their March 28 12-month high of $107.24. The equity is also holding its year-to-date breakeven level.
LYV's normally quiet options pits have already seen 2,473 puts cross the tape, which is 11 times the intraday average volume. New positions are being bought to open at the June 87.50 put, the most active contract this morning.
Options are reasonably priced at the moment too, per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 25%, which sits in the low 13th percentile of its annual range. This means options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations at the moment.