Universal Music Group's share price plunged 25.4% on Friday 31 July, from €19.35 to €14.44, following its half-year earnings report despite the company reporting healthy revenue growth. The sell-off came even though revenue rose 5.3% (10.8% at constant currency) to €6.194 billion, because investors focused instead on a sharp collapse in profitability and UMG's failure to meet analyst expectations for revenue and streaming subscription growth. The stock dipped slightly further on Monday before recovering somewhat to close at €14.93 on Tuesday 4 August.

Net income fell dramatically from €1.432 billion to just €223 million, while free cash flow dropped from €163 million to €24 million, and operating margin slipped to 14.55% from 16.1%. Much of the damage came from unusually high financial and legal expenses of €627 million, up from €93 million a year earlier, likely linked to the Downtown acquisition, a new share buyback programme and Drake-related AI lawsuits. Stripping out the Downtown deal, which closed in February 2026, revenue growth would have been just 1.34%, and UMG missed analysts' consensus revenue forecast by €262 million. CFO Matthew Ellis said management remained confident in its multiyear strategic plan despite the weak results.