During a chaotic week for stock markets around the world, Universal Music Group (UMG) shares rose 3.3% to 22.15 euros ($24.
20), enough to make the Amsterdam-listed company the top-performing music stock of the week. Stocks were hammered on Monday (Aug. 5) as markets reacted to a disappointing U.
S. jobs report the prior Friday (Aug. 2), leading to mounting concerns the economy could fall into a recession.
The Billboard Global Music Index fell 2.0% on Monday, though it experienced a lighter decline than both the Nasdaq (down 3.4%) and the S&P 500 (down 3.
0%). Investors didn’t panic, however, and markets made gains over the remainder of the week. On Friday (Aug.
9), the Nasdaq closed down 0.2% for the week while the S&P 500 broke even. UMG received a boost on Wednesday (Aug.
7) from Warner Music Group’s quarterly earnings report — a welcome change after a second-quarter slowdown in UMG’s streaming growth so worried investors that the company’s shares fell 24% the following day. WMG’s latest earnings results, which showed that recorded music streaming revenue grew 8.7% after a few adjustments, may have convinced some UMG investors that they overreacted.
In light of this new information, UMG shares jumped 6.6% to 22.74 euros ($24.
85) on Wednesday. Notably, this Friday’s closing price is 14% above the lowest closing price — 21.12 euros ($23.
08) — since the 24% decline occurred on July 25. WMG shares rose 0.3% to $28.
34 this week after the company announced that qu.