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Buy Day today: Neutral (53) Mixed market breadth · no major macro event

Live Ventures Inc (LIVE)

Consumer Cyclical Home Improvement Retail
9.70 $
+0.8% vs. previous close
Closing price · As of: 31. Jul 2026
🔔 Watch stock

symbol.quality_heading

Substance risk

We found at least one documented issue that threatens the company itself — regardless of how the stock is currently valued.

This light rates the company, not the share price. Red here stands for three documented findings that together bear on the reliability of reported earning power. First, earnings quality: of fiscal 2025 net income of $22.7 million, $27.5 million came from non-cash paper gains ($22.8 million from modifying an acquisition seller note, $2.8 million from settling an earn-out, $1.2 million from settling a purchase price holdback, $0.7 million from a debt extinguishment), plus a $2.1 million one-off payroll tax credit; operating income of $14.6 million is entirely consumed by $15.6 million of interest expense, and the first half of fiscal 2026 shows a loss of $2.5 million. Second, the balance sheet: $299.6 million of liabilities against $92.9 million of equity (March 31, 2026), with goodwill write-offs of $18.1 million in fiscal 2024 and $4.0 million in the quarter to March 31, 2026. Third, the legal position: a civil lawsuit by the U.S. securities regulator pending since August 2, 2021 against the company, the sitting chief executive and the former chief financial officer over accounting and disclosure violations from 2016 to 2018, seeking permanent officer-and-director bars and disgorgement; on February 10, 2026 the court denied both sides' motions for summary judgment, trial preparation is under way and no date has been set. A parallel investor class action is also pending. The allegations have not been decided by any court, the company denies them, and the presumption of innocence applies — this colour rates not the outcome but the documented uncertainty around a load-bearing figure. Expressly excluded from this colour are price, valuation, float and volatility. Also excluded is the Altman-Z of 5.33: on the Z" scale (thresholds 1.1 and 2.6) it sits in the safe band and shows no arithmetic insolvency signal, but it rests on earnings with a high paper-gain share and measures neither legal risk nor control structure. The decision is yours.

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Read the Full Deep Dive
Live Ventures: One Holding Company, One Owner — and a Profit That Does Not Come From the Business

This Las Vegas holding company buys American middle-market firms: video game stores, flooring, tool steel. Revenue of $444.9 million, 1,366 employees — and a market value of roughly $28 million. In fiscal 2025 it reported $22.7 million of profit. $27.5 million of that came from paper gains without a single dollar of cash moving. After interest, operations leave a shortfall. Meanwhile a civil lawsuit by the U.S. securities regulator against the company and its chief executive has been running since August 2021 — and in February 2026 the court cleared the way to trial. We read the annual and quarterly reports and work out what is actually earned here. What you get at the end is not a price verdict but an arithmetic you can check yourself.

Read the analysis

Stock Watch

This analysis is as of July 27, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at LIVE since then.

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Appears in These Scanners

This stock currently matches 6 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.

Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners

Trading Day

Previous Close
9.60$
Open
9.80$
Day High
9.80$
Day Low
9.60$
Volume
4,498shares

Key levels of the most recently completed trading day — not a live quote.

52-Week Range

52-Week Low 52-Week High
9.00 $ 21.10 $
06/05/2026 01/27/2026

Current price 9.70 $ — 6% of the range above the low.

Lowest and highest closing price over the last 52 weeks. The marker shows where the current price sits within that range: close to the high speaks for strength, close to the low for weakness.

Basics

Market Cap
0.03$B
Shares Outstanding
3Mio.
Float
26.9%
Beta
1.0

Performance

Perf. 1M
-2.90%
Perf. 3M
-24.60%
Perf. 6M
-38.50%
YTD Performance (%)
-25.80%
52-Week-High Distance
-59.2%
Perf. 1Y
-36.62%
Perf. 3Y
-63.50%
Perf. 5Y
-84.78%
Perf. 10Y
-4.80%
Perf. Since Inception
88,982.57%

Technical Indicators

MA 38 Days
10.20$
MA 50 Days
10.10$
MA 200 Days
13.50$
RSI (14)
43.0
Volatility 30 Days
57.5%
Volatility 250 Days
85.9%

Calculated from the price history · as of 08/03/2026

Valuation

P/E
Forward P/E
3.8
PEG
P/B
0.3
P/S
0.1
EV/EBITDA
6.4
Price/FCF
1.3

Profitability

Gross Margin
33.1%
EBIT Margin
Net Margin
0.9%
Return on Equity
4.3%
Return on Assets
2.7%

Balance Sheet & Safety

Equity Ratio
Debt/Equity
2.5
Altman Z″
5.33
Piotroski
3 out of 9

Growth

Sales Growth Last Quarter
-3.80%
EPS Growth Last Quarter
-70.30%
Sales Growth (Year)
-5.90%
Forward Sales Growth
Forward EPS Growth
24.80%

Dividend

This stock currently pays no dividend.

Quality & Screener

Stage
4
RS Rating
16
EPS Rating
8
Piotroski
3 out of 9
Fundamental Rating
D (29 out of 100)
Altman Z″
5.33

AI Rating

Neutral

Künstliche Intelligenz kommt in keiner Einreichung der Beteiligungsholding vor — weder als Produkt noch als Einsatz noch als Risikohinweis. Der einzige mittelbare Bezug ist die Tochter Central Steel, die Metallbauteile wie Kabelträger und Netzwerkschränke für Rechenzentren fertigt; das ist Zulieferung an die Bauinfrastruktur, kein KI-Geschäft, und wird vom Unternehmen auch nicht als solches dargestellt.

View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings

Analysts & Price Target

Current Price 9.70 $
Price Target (average) 138.00 $

The price target sits 1,322.7% above the current price.

Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.

Next Reporting Date

6. Aug 2026 · Q2 2026

Expected date of the next quarterly or annual figures. Dates do shift occasionally — only the invitation issued by the company is binding.

Revenue & Profit

Cash Flow

Balance Sheet

Margins

Per Share

Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.

None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.

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The figures could not be loaded right now.

Sales Per Quarter ($M)
2024: Q4 · 111.5 $M Q4 2025: Q1 · 107.0 $M Q1 2025: Q2 · 112.5 $M Q2 2025: Q3 · 113.9 $M Q3 2025: Q4 · 108.5 $M Q4 2026: Q1 · 102.9 $M Q1

Source: fundamental data

Compare with other stocks →

Quarterly Figures

Quarterly Figures
Quarter EPS (Earnings Per Share) EPS YoY (%) Sales ($M) Sales YoY (%) Net Margin (%) OCF ($M) FCF ($M)
2024: Q4 0.16 112 -5.20 0.40 9 8
2025: Q1 5.16 107 -9.80 14.80 0 -2
2025: Q2 1.75 113 -9.20 4.80 12 11
2025: Q3 0.32 114 1.00 0.90 7 5
2025: Q4 -0.02 -113.00 109 -2.70 -0.10 10 9
2026: Q1 -0.80 -115.40 103 -3.80 -2.40 -2 -4
What Do These Terms Mean?
EPS (Earnings Per Share):
Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
YoY (Year over Year):
Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
Sales:
All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
Net Margin:
What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
FCF (Free Cash Flow):
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.

Assessment: Opportunities & Risks

Earnings quality

Of fiscal 2025 net income of $22.7 million, $27.5 million came from non-cash paper gains, plus a one-off payroll tax credit of $2.1 million. Operating income of $14.6 million is consumed by $15.6 million of interest expense. The first half of fiscal 2026 shows a loss of $2.5 million.

Control and related-party dealings

Isaac Capital Group LLC and chief executive Jon Isaac control roughly 67.4 percent of the voting power (December 5, 2025). The same circle is a lender: a $12.0 million credit line convertible at $7.85 into up to 1,525,612 shares against 3,071,656 outstanding, plus two loans at 12.0 percent interest. The roughly $6.0 million of added value from the conversion feature was booked as a distribution from retained earnings.

Legal position

A civil lawsuit by the U.S. securities regulator against the company, the sitting chief executive and the former chief financial officer has been running since August 2, 2021 over accounting and disclosure violations from 2016 to 2018; the relief sought includes permanent officer-and-director bars. On February 10, 2026 the court denied both sides' motions for judgment without trial. A parallel investor class action also continues. The company denies the allegations.

Business mix

Vintage Stock is a solid business: $77.5 million of revenue, a 57.9 percent gross margin and $10.7 million of operating income with no meaningful interest burden (fiscal 2025). Flooring retail by contrast lost $7.7 million operationally and $12.0 million after interest; $18.1 million of goodwill was written off there in 2024. In the quarter to March 31, 2026 a further $4.0 million write-off hit the steel business.

Cash generation

Fiscal 2025 brought $28.7 million of operating cash flow, $21.0 million after capital expenditure — against a market value of roughly $28 million. But $12.4 million of that came from running down receivables and inventories as revenue fell; without that release, roughly $12.2 million remains.

Tradability and dilution

There are only 3,071,656 shares, roughly 2.2 million of them held by affiliates; the market value of shares held by non-affiliates was about $8.9 million on May 27, 2026, with daily turnover around $0.1 million. On June 18, 2026 a programme to issue securities of up to $50.0 million was registered.

Bottom Line

Live Ventures is a Las Vegas holding company with $444.9 million of revenue and a market value of roughly $28 million — at first glance a bargain at 0.34 times book value. The filings show something else: of fiscal 2025 net income of $22.7 million, $27.5 million is paper gains from renegotiated acquisition debt; after interest the group earns nothing from operations. Only one business carries the load, entertainment retailer Vintage Stock; flooring retail loses $12.0 million a year after interest. On top sits a structure in which one man holds roughly 67.4 percent of the votes and is simultaneously the largest lender — with a conversion right over roughly half the share count. And against that same man and the company, the U.S. securities regulator has been litigating since 2021 in a case a court cleared for trial in February 2026. The allegations are undecided and the company denies them. Not investment advice.

Worth Noting:
  • Live Ventures reached the research list through our in-house stock scanner "K/FCF ranking" (U.S. selection), measured July 27, 2026 on both brands: 545 U.S. hits, LIVE at a K/FCF of 1.393 in place 25 — identical on boersenlotse.de and tickerguard.com. That is exactly the last place the detail page shows; slip one rank and the name is no longer visible there. No tie (neighbouring values 1.386 and 1.4225). Anyone still wanting to find it then uses the screener and sets the P/FCF filter to its lowest band. These lists are recomputed daily.
  • The ratio needs qualifying twice for this name and is therefore recomputed in the piece. First, of the $28.7 million of fiscal 2025 operating cash flow, roughly $12.4 million came from running down receivables ($7.2 million) and inventories ($5.2 million) as revenue fell — a one-time release, not earning power; excluding all working capital movements, roughly $19.9 million remains operationally and roughly $12.2 million after capital expenditure, which makes the K/FCF about 2.3 rather than 1.4. Second, that cash flow belongs overwhelmingly to lenders: financial debt of roughly $122.4 million plus $42.9 million of finance leases against $15.2 million of cash (March 31, 2026), with interest expense of $15.6 million in fiscal 2025.
  • The Altman-Z of 5.33 is quoted but not used as an all-clear. On the Z" scale used here the thresholds are 1.1 (distress zone) and 2.6 (safe band); unlike at a bank, the formula is in principle applicable to a retail and manufacturing group. It rests here, however, on earnings largely composed of paper gains, and it measures neither legal risk nor control structure. The Piotroski score of 3 out of 9 and two balance-sheet warning flags in the same data set paint a considerably more cautious picture.
  • Identity checked strictly, because the LIVE ticker is ambiguous and the company has changed its name five times: the SEC ticker registry maps LIVE to CIK 0001045742, and the cover page of the quarterly report for March 31, 2026 reads "Live Ventures Incorporated", Nevada, Commission File Number 001-33937, trading symbol LIVE on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Former names per SEC entity data: LiveDeal Inc (2007–2015), YP Corp (2004–2007), YP Net Inc (1999–2004), RIGL Corp (1998–1999) and Renaissance International Group Ltd (1998).
  • Two widespread assumptions are expressly corrected in the piece. First: neither current filing contains any "bargain purchase" gain — the term appears nowhere in the fiscal 2025 annual report or the March 31, 2026 quarterly report; the paper gains come from restructuring acquisition debt. Second: the Series E preferred carries no documented special or super voting right; it comprises 47,840 shares with a $0.30 liquidation preference and a 5 percent dividend on it. The 67.4 percent of voting control arises from common stock (217,177 personally, 1,357,306 through ICG) plus the conversion right on the ICG revolver. The board may, however, freely set the terms of future preferred series, including their voting rights. Also clarified: there is no auto parts or tire segment in the current filings.
  • Price and valuation figures are dated anchors, not buy arguments: price $9.70 as of July 24, 2026, ratio data as of July 27, 2026, market value roughly $28 million from fundamental data. The share count of 3,071,656 comes from the quarterly report cover page (as of May 8, 2026). No analyst price target is quoted deliberately: with a public float value of roughly $8.9 million and daily turnover around $0.1 million, the values in data sets are not reliable.
  • The most recent periodic report is the quarterly report 10-Q for March 31, 2026 (filed May 14, 2026); it covers the second quarter of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. The third-quarter report (June 30, 2026) was not yet due at the data date of July 27, 2026 — a non-accelerated filer has until August 14, 2026. Filed after May 14, 2026: the Form S-3 registration statement for $50.0 million of June 18, 2026 and the current report 8-K of June 25, 2026 (Item 5.07, annual meeting results). Both are evaluated. The fiscal 2025 annual report was filed on time on December 17, 2025; no late-filing notification (NT 10-K) exists for that year, though there were ten historically — the most recent in 2020.

About the Company

Live Ventures Incorporated befasst sich zusammen mit seinen Tochtergesellschaften mit der Bodenbelags- und Stahlfertigung sowie dem Einzelhandel in den USA. Das Unternehmen ist in fünf Segmenten tätig: Retail-Entertainment, Retail-Flooring, Flooring Manufacturing, Steel Manufacturing sowie Corporate and Other.

Employees1,366
HeadquartersLas Vegas, NV
Websiteliveventures.com
IPO Date2. Jan 2001

Management

Management
Name Title Birth Year
Jon Isaac Chairman, President, CEO 1983
Rodney Dale Spriggs President & CEO of Vintage Stock, Inc. 1967
Thomas Robert Sedlak Chief Executive Officer of Precision Industries, Inc. 1972
David Verret Chief Financial Officer 1975
Greg Powell Director of Investor Relations
Wayne R. Ipsen CPA Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary 1970
Weston A. Godfrey Jr. Co-Chief Executive Officer of Marquis Industries, Inc. 1979
Christopher Todd Nichols CEO & President of Flooring Liquidators 1970
Timothy M. Matula Investor relations 1961
Autumn Wofford Office Manager

Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.

Chart

Interactive price chart (TradingView).

Data as of: July 31, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)

Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.

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