Shares of Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) are plunging as the Wall Street Journal reports the Justice Department is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against the company as soon as next month.

Yahoo Finance reporter Alexandra Canal joins The Morning Brief to discuss the allegations, which take aim at the company's leveraging of its market dominance to harm competitors. Though the federal government did approve the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger in 2010, Canal flags that Live Nation has since been at the center of antitrust concerns, including accusations of sky-high fees and monopolistic behavior.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Well, another stock to watch, and that is Live Nation. Shares are plunging on a "Journal" report that the Justice Department is getting ready to file an antitrust lawsuit as soon as next month. Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal has the details for us from the newsroom. Allie.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Hi, Seana. Well, you said it. Shares of Live Nation down nearly 10% in pre-market trading following that antitrust report. According to the "Journal", the DOJ will allege that Live Nation has leveraged its dominance in the marketplace to harm competitors. A lawsuit is expected to be announced as soon as next month, although the specific claims the Department would allege are unknown at this time.

Now the federal government did approve the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger back in 2010. Since then, though, this company has been at the center of antitrust concerns, including accusations of sky high fees, monopolistic practices, and anti-competitive behavior.

If you recall that Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco in 2022 set off quite a few alarm bells here with the Senate Judiciary Committee holding a hearing at the start of last year. Now at that hearing, there were multiple calls to break up the company. Although experts that I've spoken with have told me that wouldn't necessarily solve the problems surrounding the unregulated secondary ticket market.

So overall, lots of moving parts here. And analysts previously told me that Live Nation would, quote, "be a shell of itself without Ticketmaster" since that's the entity that makes up the bulk of the profits. We're going to continue to monitor to see if an antitrust lawsuit is, in fact, filed. But again, shares are down just over 8% before the opening bell today.

BRAD SMITH: All right, Allie, thanks so much. A lot to continue to track with Live Nation, and especially this key name in the experience economy for all those concert goers and event goers out there. Appreciate it.