Hive, Focuses on Weverse and V Live Integration in the First Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] DB Financial Investment analyzed on the 23rd that attention should be paid to the integration of Weverse and V Live in the first half of this year regarding HYBE.

Hwang Hyunjun, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, stated in a report on the same day, “HYBE's sales and operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year are expected to be 378.9 billion KRW and 71 billion KRW respectively, representing a 21% and 28% increase compared to the same period last year, but operating profit is expected to fall short of the market consensus of 78.5 billion KRW.”

Sales were favorable as the fourth-quarter album sales reached 4.83 million copies, with significant contributions from Seventeen and ENHYPEN, and reflected four LA performances and online broadcasts. However, profitability is expected to fall below market expectations due to increased costs from offline concerts, logistics expenses, and labor costs.

Researcher Hwang analyzed, “While Seventeen and ENHYPEN are growing, BTS's new album release and the launch of the integrated Weverse and V Live app are scheduled for the first half of the year. Through this, the large-scale traffic possessed by V Live will be connected to Weverse's business model, serving as a momentum to drive HYBE's mid- to long-term performance and corporate value.”

Furthermore, he added, “Considering that the recovery of offline performances has been delayed more than expected due to the spread of Omicron, we lowered this year's operating profit estimates by 8%. However, since this period reflects expectations for new businesses such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) utilizing intellectual property (IP) owned by HYBE along with the integration of Weverse and V Live, we maintain a 'Buy' investment opinion and a target stock price of 370,000 KRW.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.