LIVE VENTURES Inc (LIVE) Stock Analysis and Metrics

Live Ventures

NASDAQ: LIVE

$9.73 ▲ +0.16 (+1.73%)

At close: Jul 29, 2026 · 2:25 PM UTC

Financial Ratios

Market Cap29.89 Mn

P/E1.35

P/S0.07

Div. Yield0.00

ROIC (Qtr)0.00

Total Debt (Qtr)31.80 Mn

Revenue Growth (1y) (Qtr)-2.66

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About

Live Ventures Incorporated is a diversified holding company that focuses on value oriented acquisitions of domestic middle market companies. It operates through subsidiaries in the textile flooring tools steel and entertainment industries. The company follows a decentralized management model where each business runs independently and corporate headquarters handles capital allocation and CEO selection.

The company generates revenue from the sale of new and pre owned movies video games music books collectibles and related services through its entertainment retail chain. It also earns income from the retail and installation of flooring carpeting cabinets and countertops. Additionally it derives revenue from the manufacture and sale of carpet hard surface flooring and related products. Finally it earns from the production and distribution of specialty steel products including tool steel industrial knives metal stampings and fabricated metal components.

The company operates through the following segments: Retail Entertainment Retail Flooring Flooring Manufacturing and Steel Manufacturing.

• Retail Entertainment: Vintage Stock operates 73 stores across the United States selling new and pre owned movies video games music books comics toys and collectibles and offering services such as rentals special orders and disc and video game hardware repair through a buy sell trade model and a customer reward program that gives a 50 percent bonus for store credit.

• Retail Flooring: Flooring Liquidators runs 25 warehouse format stores and design centers in Arkansas California Missouri and Nevada selling flooring cabinets countertops and providing installation services to homeowners property managers builders and contractors.

• Flooring Manufacturing: Marquis Industries produces carpet rugs and hard surface flooring including luxury vinyl laminate and engineered hardwood under multiple brands serving flooring dealers home centers other manufacturers and commercial end users.

• Steel Manufacturing: Precision Industries Inc through its subsidiaries Precision Marshall Kinetic Precision Metal Works and Central Steel Fabricators manufactures and supplies decarb free tool steel plate industrial knives metal stampings and fabricated metal products to steel distributors and industrial customers.

In entertainment retail Vintage Stock faces competition from mass merchants regional chains online retailers and specialty stores but differentiates itself with its buy sell trade model and loyalty program that offers bonus store credit. In flooring retail Flooring Liquidators competes with Home Depot Lowe s Floor and Decor and regional players while maintaining a low cost advantage through direct sourcing and efficient logistics. In flooring manufacturing Marquis operates in a fragmented market and gains an edge from vertical integration quick turnaround times and a broad product portfolio. In steel manufacturing Precision Marshall competes with other tool steel producers but stands out due to high inventory availability same day shipment and strong service to distributors.

The company serves entertainment enthusiasts collectors gamers children and seniors through its retail stores homeowners property managers builders and contractors through its flooring retail outlets flooring dealers home centers other manufacturers and commercial end users through its manufacturing operations and steel distributors industrial customers and manufacturers through its steel businesses.

Investment Thesis

▲ Bull case

LIVE's Retail Entertainment segment demonstrated resilient performance with a 14.8% revenue increase to $21.2 million in Q2 FY26, driven by strong consumer demand across all product lines, indicating underlying strength in discretionary spending that may outlast broader economic headwinds and provide a stable cash flow foundation for the company despite weakness in other divisions. The segment's operating income growth of 32.8% further validates management's ability to capture value in high-margin areas, suggesting potential for accelerated reinvestment or shareholder returns if the trend continues into the second half of the fiscal year, which could offset ongoing challenges in more cyclical businesses. The company's strategic focus on cost reduction initiatives in Retail Flooring and Flooring Manufacturing—evidenced by lower compensation and professional fees—has begun to stabilize margins, with gross margin expanding 80 basis points to 33.6% despite a 3.8% revenue decline, reflecting operational discipline that could unlock significant earnings upside if housing market activity normalizes even modestly. The increase in Steel Manufacturing revenue by 3.4% to $32.5 million, driven by higher volumes in fabricated and tool-and-die businesses, signals emerging demand in industrial end-markets that are less tied to residential construction and more correlated with durable goods production, offering a diversification benefit that reduces reliance on volatile housing cycles. Management's emphasis on paying down approximately $8 million in debt year-over-year strengthens the balance sheet, reducing financial leverage and interest burden, which enhances flexibility to pursue selective acquisitions or weather prolonged downturns without forced asset sales. The $1.4 million employee retention credit gain in Retail Flooring, though non-recurring, highlights the company's ability to leverage available government programs to bolster liquidity during transitional periods, underscoring proactive financial management that may persist beyond the current quarter. The absence of any acquisition discussions during Q&A does not imply inaction; rather, management's openness to opportunities aligned with their criteria suggests potential for value-accretive deals in adjacent sectors if market dislocations create attractive valuations, particularly given their improved due diligence framework post-prior missteps. The resilience of adjusted EBITDA at $5.9 million despite a $4 million noncash goodwill impairment underscores the underlying earnings power of the core business, with the impairment representing an accounting adjustment rather than operational deterioration, meaning the company's cash-generative capacity remains intact and positioned for recovery as macro conditions improve.

LIVE's Retail Entertainment segment demonstrated resilient performance with a 14.8% revenue increase to $21.2 million in Q2 FY26, driven by strong consumer demand across all product lines, indicating underlying strength in discretionary spending that may outlast broader economic headwinds and provide a stable cash flow foundation for the company despite weakness in other divisions. The segment's operating income growth of 32.8% further validates management's ability to capture value in high-margin areas, suggesting potential for accelerated reinvestment or shareholder returns if the trend continues into the second half of the fiscal year, which could offset ongoing challenges in more cyclical businesses. The company's strategic focus on cost reduction initiatives in Retail Flooring and Flooring Manufacturing—evidenced by lower compensation and professional fees—has begun to stabilize margins, with gross margin expanding 80 basis points to 33.6% despite a 3.8% revenue decline, reflecting operational discipline that could unlock significant earnings upside if housing market activity normalizes even modestly. The increase in Steel Manufacturing revenue by 3.4% to $32.5 million, driven by higher volumes in fabricated and tool-and-die businesses, signals emerging demand in industrial end-markets that are less tied to residential construction and more correlated with durable goods production, offering a diversification benefit that reduces reliance on volatile housing cycles. Management's emphasis on paying down approximately $8 million in debt year-over-year strengthens the balance sheet, reducing financial leverage and interest burden, which enhances flexibility to pursue selective acquisitions or weather prolonged downturns without forced asset sales. The $1.4 million employee retention credit gain in Retail Flooring, though non-recurring, highlights the company's ability to leverage available government programs to bolster liquidity during transitional periods, underscoring proactive financial management that may persist beyond the current quarter. The absence of any acquisition discussions during Q&A does not imply inaction; rather, management's openness to opportunities aligned with their criteria suggests potential for value-accretive deals in adjacent sectors if market dislocations create attractive valuations, particularly given their improved due diligence framework post-prior missteps. The resilience of adjusted EBITDA at $5.9 million despite a $4 million noncash goodwill impairment underscores the underlying earnings power of the core business, with the impairment representing an accounting adjustment rather than operational deterioration, meaning the company's cash-generative capacity remains intact and positioned for recovery as macro conditions improve.

▼ Bear case

LIVE's Retail Flooring segment continues to face structural headwinds, with revenue plummeting 26.2% to $20.2 million due to sustained weakness in new home construction and home refurbishment markets, a trend management acknowledged as driven by ongoing interest rate sensitivity and contractor pullback, suggesting this is not a temporary lull but a persistent shift in consumer behavior that could keep the segment depressed for multiple quarters, directly undermining the company's historical revenue base and offsetting gains in higher-margin Entertainment. The $4 million noncash goodwill impairment in the Steel Manufacturing segment, while labeled a "paper loss" by management, reflects fundamental deterioration in the stamping and metal forming business tied to appliance and automobile demand, where customer production cuts are signaling weaker industrial activity that may persist beyond seasonal fluctuations, raising concerns about the segment's long-term viability and the accuracy of prior acquisition valuations. Despite cost-cutting efforts, General and Administrative expenses remain elevated at $27.7 million, only down 2.3% year-over-year, indicating limited scalability in overhead reduction and suggesting that the company's cost structure is not sufficiently aligned with its reduced revenue profile, which could perpetuate margin pressure even if sales stabilize. The company's reliance on intercompany eliminations to mask true revenue trends—where net revenue changes were only $600,000 and $900,000 down/up in Retail Flooring and Steel Manufacturing respectively—obscures the severity of segment-specific declines and risks misleading investors about the underlying health of core operations. Working capital increased to $74.4 million from $62.1 million, but this appears driven more by timing differences in payables or receivables rather than genuine operational improvement, as evidenced by the persistent decline in adjusted EBITDA down 8.8% to $5.9 million, revealing that liquidity gains are not translating into sustainable earnings power. Management's admission that acquisition decisions depend entirely on "what comes up in the market" reveals a reactive, opportunistic strategy lacking a clear thematic focus, increasing the risk of misallocated capital in overpriced or poorly integrated targets, especially given their acknowledgment of past due diligence shortcomings and the need for continuous postmortems. The $22.8 million gain from the Flooring Liquidators' seller note modification in the prior year period—a significant one-time boost absent in the current quarter—highlights how flattering prior-year comparisons are, making the current results look worse by comparison and suggesting that sustainable earnings growth remains elusive without similar non-recurring windfalls. Interest expense remains stubbornly high at $3.9 million despite debt paydown efforts, indicating that the company's leverage profile is still elevated relative to its earnings capacity, constraining financial flexibility and increasing vulnerability to further rate hikes or covenant breaches if operating performance does not materially improve.

LIVE's Retail Flooring segment continues to face structural headwinds, with revenue plummeting 26.2% to $20.2 million due to sustained weakness in new home construction and home refurbishment markets, a trend management acknowledged as driven by ongoing interest rate sensitivity and contractor pullback, suggesting this is not a temporary lull but a persistent shift in consumer behavior that could keep the segment depressed for multiple quarters, directly undermining the company's historical revenue base and offsetting gains in higher-margin Entertainment. The $4 million noncash goodwill impairment in the Steel Manufacturing segment, while labeled a "paper loss" by management, reflects fundamental deterioration in the stamping and metal forming business tied to appliance and automobile demand, where customer production cuts are signaling weaker industrial activity that may persist beyond seasonal fluctuations, raising concerns about the segment's long-term viability and the accuracy of prior acquisition valuations. Despite cost-cutting efforts, General and Administrative expenses remain elevated at $27.7 million, only down 2.3% year-over-year, indicating limited scalability in overhead reduction and suggesting that the company's cost structure is not sufficiently aligned with its reduced revenue profile, which could perpetuate margin pressure even if sales stabilize. The company's reliance on intercompany eliminations to mask true revenue trends—where net revenue changes were only $600,000 and $900,000 down/up in Retail Flooring and Steel Manufacturing respectively—obscures the severity of segment-specific declines and risks misleading investors about the underlying health of core operations. Working capital increased to $74.4 million from $62.1 million, but this appears driven more by timing differences in payables or receivables rather than genuine operational improvement, as evidenced by the persistent decline in adjusted EBITDA down 8.8% to $5.9 million, revealing that liquidity gains are not translating into sustainable earnings power. Management's admission that acquisition decisions depend entirely on "what comes up in the market" reveals a reactive, opportunistic strategy lacking a clear thematic focus, increasing the risk of misallocated capital in overpriced or poorly integrated targets, especially given their acknowledgment of past due diligence shortcomings and the need for continuous postmortems. The $22.8 million gain from the Flooring Liquidators' seller note modification in the prior year period—a significant one-time boost absent in the current quarter—highlights how flattering prior-year comparisons are, making the current results look worse by comparison and suggesting that sustainable earnings growth remains elusive without similar non-recurring windfalls. Interest expense remains stubbornly high at $3.9 million despite debt paydown efforts, indicating that the company's leverage profile is still elevated relative to its earnings capacity, constraining financial flexibility and increasing vulnerability to further rate hikes or covenant breaches if operating performance does not materially improve.

Consolidation Items Breakdown of Revenue (2025)

Peer Comparison

Companies in the Home Improvement Retail

S.No.	Ticker	Company	Market Cap	P/E	P/S	Total Debt (Qtr)
1	HD	Home Depot, Inc.	335.94 Bn	23.98	2.02	50.01 Bn
2	LOW	Lowes Companies Inc	120.57 Bn	18.15	1.36	37.13 Bn
3	FND	Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc.	6.02 Bn	30.16	1.29	0.39 Bn
4	HVT	Haverty Furniture Companies Inc	0.39 Bn	19.08	0.50	-
5	LIVE	LIVE VENTURES Inc	0.03 Bn	1.35	0.07	0.03 Bn

Research Tools

Developers

About

Investment Thesis

Segments Breakdown of Revenue (2025)

Consolidation Items Breakdown of Revenue (2025)

Peer Comparison

Research Tools

Developers

About

Investment Thesis

Segments Breakdown of Revenue (2025)

Consolidation Items Breakdown of Revenue (2025)

Peer Comparison

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