LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC. vs Vail Resorts, Inc., two Entertainment stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Live Nation and Vail both sell live experiences, concerts and ski days, but their economics barely rhyme. Live Nation runs a structurally thin 0.33% net margin because ticket revenue flows through to artists and venues, while Vail keeps a settled 5.54% and earns 17.12% on equity. Vail converts better to cash, a 3.56% free cash yield against Live Nation's 2.91%, and pays a 6.43% dividend where Live Nation pays none. By scale Live Nation is the giant, $41.7 billion to Vail's $4.9 billion. A high-volume events and ticketing machine against a seasonal, debt-heavy mountain-resort operator.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | LYV | MTN |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $179.86 | $150.34 |
| Market cap | $41.8B | $5.4B |
| Sector | Entertainment | Entertainment |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +35.9% | -4.1% |
| P/E | — | 32.4 |
| P/B | 86.75 | 5.86 |
| P/S | 1.63 | 1.89 |
| EV/EBITDA | 27.7 | 11.0 |
| Revenue growth | +12.7% | -1.3% |
| Operating margin | -9.8% | 41.0% |
| Net margin | 0.3% | 5.5% |
| Return on equity | 17.4% | 17.1% |
| Return on assets | 0.3% | 2.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 8.4% | 8.3% |
| FCF yield | 2.9% | 3.3% |
| Dividend yield | — | 5.9% |
| Debt / equity | 13.93 | 3.30 |
| Current ratio | 0.88 | 0.91 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.78 | 1.64 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 5 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.