[Click eStock] HYBE Benefiting from BTS, 2Q Corporate Value Increase Events Become Visible This Year

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Hana Financial Investment maintained its investment opinion of 'Buy' and target price of 430,000 KRW for HYBE on the 23rd.

HYBE's sales in the fourth quarter of last year were 459.8 billion KRW, and operating profit was 73.9 billion KRW, increasing by 48% and 63% respectively compared to the same period last year. The operating profit met market expectations, and sales exceeded the market forecast of 384.4 billion KRW.

The background for this includes BTS's four concerts in the U.S. and an online concert (about 810,000 attendees), SEVENTEEN's comeback, and a surge in planned merchandise (MD) and content through Weverse, which has 6.8 million monthly active users (MAU). Offline concerts have been confirmed, including BTS's Seoul concert in March and approximately 105 performances by Justin Bieber over about a year starting in February. Additionally, first tour plans for TXT and ENHYPEN were also announced.

Important events that will drive HYBE's corporate value increase this year are expected to become visible from the second quarter. The Weverse 2.0 update will strengthen community, content, and commerce, increasing dwell time through V Live, while non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are expected to be used as a medium for communication between artists and fans. The establishment of an NFT marketplace is also planned around the same time, and the entry of Ithaca Holdings, which has high traffic effects such as Justin Bieber, into Weverse, along with BTS's comeback, is highly likely to coincide. In other words, the biggest momentum for investing in HYBE?including ▲ Weverse 2.0 update, ▲ NFT marketplace establishment, ▲ Ithaca Holdings' entry into Weverse, ▲ BTS comeback, and ▲ game release featuring BTS (scheduled for June)?will all be confirmed in the second quarter.

Lee Ki-hoon, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, analyzed, "The recent price adjustment is due to an uncertain macro environment where global growth stocks have all been sluggish," adding, "HYBE's artist and platform capabilities, IP-based secondary rights, and the possibility of offline tour resumption have not changed at all."

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